Description: Rigid or wiry, perennial or annual herbs or subshrubs.
Leaves mostly basal, shortly petiolate; cauline leaves alternate, reduced to scales.
Flowers small, pedicellate, in lateral or terminal, short, irregular cymes, or forming a spreading dichotomous cyme with opposite bracts. Outer perianth whorl 5-partite, persistent. Inner perianth deeply 5-lobed and petaloid, or absent. Stamens 8; filaments united at base. Ovary superior, 3-locular; ovules 1–3 per loculus; placentation basal; styles 3.
Fruit a capsule, dehiscing loculicidally in 3 valves; seeds arillate.
Distribution and occurrence: World: 9-10 species, all endemic to Australia. Australia: Qld, N.S.W., N.T., W.A.
Previously included in Aizoaceae, Molluginaceae, or Limeaceae.
Text by S. W. L. Jacobs & J. Highet; updated by H. Sauquet (Oct 2020)
Taxon concept:
|
