Annual or perennial herbs or subshrubs, often papillose. Leaves alternate, ± succulent. Stipules 0. Flowers axillary, solitary or fasciculate, greenish or yellowish, mostly bisexual. Perianth 3-5-lobed. Stamens 3-many. Ovary semi-inferior or inferior, 2-8-locular; styles as many as loculi. Ovule pendulous, 1 per loculus. Fruit hard, indehiscent, winged, spiny or (in ours) horned. Seeds solitary. Worldwide: 85 species in tropical and warm regions of the world; c. 40 species in southern Africa Zimbabwe: 1 cultivated taxon. |
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