Flora of New Zealand Series

Fls us. perfect and regular, hypog., 5-merous, us. in cymes; calyx ± deeply lobed; corolla 5-lobed, rotate, salverform, funnelform or campanulate, the tube often partly closed by hairs or scales; stamens 5 inserted on corolla and alternating with its lobes; anthers 2-celled, dehiscing longitudinally; ovary 2-celled or by false septum 4-celled and deeply 4-lobed; style simple, terminal or gynobasic; fr. of (2)-4 indehiscent nutlets, rarely a drupe. Seeds us. without endosperm, embryo straight or curved. Herbs, sts shrubs or trees, us. hispid or scabrid, with simple, us. entire, exstipulate lvs, alt. except sts towards base. About 90 genera, nearly 2000 spp., widely distributed.