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These are small to big trees, shrubs or perennial grasses, less often annual or climbing plants, woody or herbaceous sometimes with spines.  Leaves may be opposite almost always entire.  Stipules are present, visible resembling leaves or sometimes reduced inter or intrapetiolate, entire or diversely lobed or fimbrilate often terminated or separated by viscous hairs.  The leaves sometimes contain bacterial nodules. 

Flowers are rarely solitary, more usually grouped in terminal or axial inflorescence.  They have a cymose arrangement, sometimes in a spherical capitulum where the ovary can be cone-shaped.  Bracts can either be reduced or developed.  Flowers are usually actinomorphic and hermaphrodite. The calyx is gamosepalous with its superior parts sometimes more or less developed, tubular or cupuliform.  The corolla may be small or large, gamopetalous with a very long tube.  The stamens are often present in the same number as the lobes of the corolla and epipetals.  Pollen is variable more often simple, spherical, ovoid or discoid, sometimes tetrahedral or rarely polyhedral.

The ovary is usually inferior with 2 carpels and bilocular but can be divided into 3-5 or even 12 or more locules.  Placentation can be axial of parietal.  The ovules may be one or more per locules and are usually found embedded in the fleshy placenta.  The style is simple, often slender and long.  Fruits are small or big, berries or drupes, indehiscent or woody, occasionally fused in composite fruits.  Albumen is present except in Guettardeae.  The embryo is upright or rarely bended.  The radicle is often larger than the cotyledons.

The genus consists of some 55 species distributed in Africa, Madagascar, the Mascarenes, Indonesia and America. 

These can be small trees or bushes. Stipule is persistent, usually conical over the nodes.  Leaves have short petiole. The leaf blade is thin, usually with extensive venation on the inferior surface. Flowers are more often in cymose or compact capitulum. Calyx with a cupulifom free tube, truncated, serrated or lobed. The corolla is mainly a tube with a thick wall longer than the calyx’s tube.  Anthers (5) are sub-sessile, linear symmetric at the base. 

Ovary is trilobed.  Ovules are numerous on a thickened placenta. The stigma is formed from two flattened lobes, with 10 membrane winglets, that are linear and are placed between the anthers.  The fruit is indehiscent, ovoid or spherical, often hard.  Calyx is persistent.  Pedicel is accrescent.  Seeds are numerous, dark red to black, angular, rough or granular.
 

Chassalia

This genus consists of some 40 to 50 species, with most belonging to tropical regions of Africa and Madagascar. Some 9 species are found in the Mascarenes. 

They are shrubs, more rarely small trees or grasses. Leaves are opposite, or rarely in 3.  Stipules are interpetiolar, sometimes fused in a sheath, entire or not, often associated with hairs at the lateral internal base and are persistent.  Flowers are hermaphrodites.  Heterostyles are often small in a branched inflorescence from which each unit is usually a small capitulum.  Some species have pedicilate flowers.  Bracts are small. 

Calyx is ovoid or oblong, more or less ribbed, with a small tube and triangular or linear lobes.  The floral buds are often winged.  Corolla is white, pink or red-violet, sometimes yellow inside.  The ovary is bilocular.  The locules are uniovulated, with ovules basally placed and upright.  Styles with linear stigmatic lobes are characteristics of this genus.  Fruit is fleshy, hemispheric or plan-convex, often having a dorsal crest indicating the line of dehiscence.  Seed is concave-convex, with a pale testa.
 

Fernelia

These can be branched shrubs or bushes.  The leaves are opposite; stipules are small, deltoid and pointed.  Leaf blade is elliptical to nearly circular, hard, discoloured, shiny on the superior surface. Leaves of young plants are often very small. 

Flowers are numerous, functionally unisexual, odorant, solitary or rarely found in two at the foliage base, subsessile or occasionally pedunculate.  Basal bracteoles with a small cupule, entire with 4 short serrations or 2 long lobes are also present.  The adnate part of the calyx is obconic or oblong-ellipsoid in female flowers, reduced in male ones.  Tube is free and short with 4 subulated or closely deltoid or in male flowers, oval with subulated hairless top or pubescent in the exterior, with an indumentum softly hairy on the internal surface. 

Corolla is white, hairless to soft in the interior.  Tube is funnel shaped to short cylindrical with the opening hairless or pubescent.  4 stamens are present in male flowers and are inserted at the opening of the tube.  In female flowers, anthers are educed. 

Ovary is bilocular, unilocular in half basal part.  Ovules are numerous and found in two oblong placentas attached to the septum at the top of the ovary.  Style is short with 2 stigmatal branches.  Ovary is reduced in male flowers. Disc is annular, bulging. Fruit is small, subspheric or oval associated with the lobes of the calyx.  Seeds are numerous, diversely compacted and more or less angular with a thick hard testa formed from closely packed cells with thick cell walls having a specific pattern.  Albumen is fleshy.  Embryo is upright with rounded and flattened cotyledons taking about half the radicle length.
 

Tarenna

These are small trees or bushes.  Leaves are opposite.  Stipules are intrapetiolar always upright, often more or less black when dried.  Flowers are odorant and hermaphrodite, usually small enough in a terminal corymbiferous inflorescent or a more rarely axilliary.  Bracts sometimes present but not much visible.  Bracteoles present are often inserted on the pedicel. The calyx is partly adnated, turbinated to ovoid with a free tube that is generally short.  Corolla is white to yellow.  Tube is cylindrical to more or less funnel shaped, hairless or pubescent near the opening. 

Stamens are found near the opening more or less spreading, filaments are short. Anthers are linear to closely oblong.  Disc is annular.  The ovary is bilocular.  The placenta is subapical, either big, more or less oval with 1-15 ovules more or less embedded or smaller with 2-5 hanging ovules.  Style is slender. 

Fruit usually green, small, bacuferous, nearly fleshy, spherical, usually associated with the calyx’s persistent tube, with 1 locule and 1 seed or 2 locules and many seeds.  Seeds are black, more or less spherical with yawning hilum, reticulated testa and ruminated albumen or not and brown.  Leaf blades are greatly elliptical; those of adult plants are always almost less than 2 times longer than larger.
 

Gaertnera

The genus is comprised of some 40 to 50 species that are found in tropical regions of Africa, Madagascar and South East Asia. 

These can be trees or bushes that bear petiolate leaves found opposite each other. Interpetiolar stipules are present and these seem to be protected by a sheath. Inflorescence is terminal, somewhat capituliform to rather paniculate. Both bracts and bracteoles are present with the bracteoles being found adnate to the calyx. The flowers are usually fragrant. 

The ovary is spherical, obovoid, campanulate and often with 5 lobes. The corolla is funnel-shaped, with the tube being cylindrical. There are also 5 valvate lobes. The stamens are linearly arranged, while the ovary is superior, bilocular. The ovules are held upright on a filiform style. The latter can also be puberulent, oblong, ellipsoidal or fusiform, it can also be smooth or ribbed, either indehiscent or fleshy. The seeds too have the spherical to fusiform shape. The embryo is small, and uprightly held. Albumen is usually abundant. 
 

Mussaenda

This genus is composed of some hundred species that are widely distributed in tropical regions. 

These are often climbing shrubs or lianas. They are stipulate with the stipules being either entire or bilobed and persistent or dehiscent. The leaves are opposite each other or grouped in threes, are petiolate and generally elliptical. The flowers vary from yellow to red or are sometimes white, are grouped on terminal panicules. 

There are 5 lobes per calyx and these can be linear, spatula-shaped, sometimes very short and either dentate or rounded. They can be persistent or deciduous and can be present in an inflorescence as well. Sometimes, several lobes are grouped to form a somewhat enlarged lamina that can be yellow, white or red. Five anthers are present. The bi- to tetra-locular ovaries bear numerous ovules that are contained in fleshy placentas. 

The style is slender sometimes bilobed. The fruit too can be fleshy or dried and is indehiscent. The numerous grains are pale brown to blackish. 
 

Myonima

This genus is comprised of shrubs or small trees that have smooth barks. They are stipulate with the stipules having triangular bases and being deciduous. The leaves are opposite each other and bear a very short petiole. 

The flowers are hermaphroditic and are arranged in cymoses, corymbs or umbels that can be terminal. The pedicels are very distinct and the bracts small. The corolla bears a short white tube. There are 4 stamens that consist of very short filaments. The ovary is bilocular but may contain up to 7 locules. The ovules are solitary, amphitropous, axilliary or are attached to the locules. 

The fruit is ellipsoidal or subspherical, and sometimes fleshy.