Trees, shrubs, or vines, climbers rarely herbs. Leaves opposite, alternate, or whorled, simple or pinnately compound, rarely palmately compound, without stipules, climbers usually with tendrils modified sometimes into hooks or suckers. Inflorescences cymose, paniculate, or racemose, terminal or axillary, rarely flowers borne on old stems; bracts and bractlets present, sometimes deciduous. Flowers bisexual, zygomorphic, usually large. Calyx campanulate or tubular, truncate, 2-5-dentate, or glandular subulate-dentate. Corolla campanulate or funnelform, usually bilabiate; lobes 5, imbricate or valvate. Fertile stamens 4 (didynamous) and staminode 1, or 2 and staminodes 3, rarely all 5 stamens fertile. Disc fleshy. Ovary superior, 2-locular, rarely 1- or 4-locular; placentation axile or parietal; ovules numerous. Style filiform; stigma 2-lobed. Capsule dehiscing loculicidally or septicidally, rarely fruit fleshy and indehiscent. Seeds numerous, usually winged or with tufts of hairs at both ends; endosperm absent.

Source: [
• 3
]. 

Fruit capsular or fleshy and indehiscent

Source: [
• 1
]. 

Style terminal, 2-lipped; ovules numerous

Source: [
• 1
]. 

Flowers often showy, hermaphrodite, more or less zygomorphic

Source: [
• 1
]. 

Seeds often winged, without endosperm; embryo straight

Source: [
• 1
]. 

Leaves opposite, rarely alternate, mostly compound, digitate or pinnate, sometimes the terminal leaflet tendril-like (but not in the native genera of W.Africa); stipules absent, pseudostipules present in some genera

Source: [
• 1
]. 

Trees or shrubs, sometimes scandent, very rarely herbs

Source: [
• 1
]. 

Corolla with 5 imbricate lobes sometimes forming 2 lips, the upper of 2, the lower of 3 lobes

Source: [
• 1
]. 

Calyx campanulate, closed or open in bud, truncate or 5-toothed, sometimes spathaceous

Source: [
• 1
]. 

Anthers connivent in pairs or rarely free, 2-celled, opening lengthwise; staminode representing the fifth stamen often short, sometimes absent, often 3 present when only two stamens

Source: [
• 1
]. 

Stamens alternate with the corolla-lobes, only 4 or 2 perfect

Source: [
• 1
]. 

Ovary superior, 2-celled with 2 placentas in each cell or 1-celled with parietal bifid placentas

Source: [
• 1
]. 

Disk usually present

Source: [
• 1
]. 

Disk hypogynous, nectariferous, annual or tubular, sometimes absent

Source: [
• 2
]. 

Ovary superior, syncarpus 2-carpellary, typically bilocular with axile placentation or unilocular and with parietal placencation (Kigelia); ovules numerous in each locule, anatropous; style 1, terminal with bilamellate stigma

Source: [
• 2
]. 

Corolla gamopetalous bilabiate or not, with a conspicuous campanulate, infundibuliform or tubular tube and 5-lobed, limb usually imbricate in aestivation

Source: [
• 2
]. 

Stamens epipetalous, usually 4, didynamous with l posticous staminode, not so often 5 equal stamens, very rarely 2 (not in Flora Zambesiaca area) adnate to the corolla tube, included or exserted; filaments slender, often dilated at the base; anthers 2-thecous, rarely l-thecous (not in Flora Zambesiaca area), usually widely divergent or divaricate, dehiscing longitudinally

Source: [
• 2
]. 

Fruit usually capsular, dehiscing by 2 loculicidal or septicidal valves, perpendicular or parallel to the septum, or fleshy and indehiscent (Kigelia)

Source: [
• 2
]. 

Trees and shrubs, sometimes straggling (sometimes climbers, very rarely herbaceous), mostly unarmed, not lactiferous

Source: [
• 2
]. 

Seeds numerous, compressed and winged in the species with capsular fruits, wingless seeds in the species with fleshy fruits, without endosperm; embryo usually flat; cotyledons flattened, rarely folded, foliaceous

Source: [
• 2
]. 

Stipules absent, rarely with pseudostipules (external scales of axillary shoots) well developed, sometimes foliacepus

Source: [
• 2
]. 

Flowers zygomorphic, usually showy and in several-flowered terminal or axillary panicles or racemes, sometimes reduced to a fascicle or solitary flower

Source: [
• 2
]. 

Leaves usually opposite, rarely verticillate or alternate, imparipinnate or bipinnate (not in Flora Zambesiaca area), 1-jugate or simple, sometimes the terminal leaflet replaced by a tendril (not in Flora Zambesiaca area)

Source: [
• 2
]. 

Calyx gamosepalous of various shapes, usually 5-dentate or -lobed or almost truncate or spathaceously split

Source: [
• 2
].