Herbs, annual or perennial, sometimes with rhizomes or bulbs. Leaves digitately or
pinnately 3 - 4-foliolate; stipules when present adnate to base of petiole. Peduncles basal
from bulbs or solitary and axillary. Inflorescence cymose or umbellate, 1 to many-flowered; bracteoles 2 to several, sometimes with apical calli; pedicels articulate at base and
sometimes beneath calyx. Sepals shortly connate at base with or without apical calli.
Petals coherent above claw, contorted, glabrous. Long filaments sometimes with a
dorsal tooth each. Ovules 1 - 10 in 1 - 2 rows per locule; stigma cylindric, minutely bilobed
to peltate, sometimes papillose. Capsules loculicidal by longitudinal slits; seeds 1 - 10
per locule.
Cosmopolitan, chiefly C. and S. America and S. Africa; ca 800 species, 10.in India.