Herbs or small shrubs. Leaves opposite, sometimes markedly different, entire or toothed. Flowers solitary in axils or borne in spikes or panicles. Calyx deeply divided into narrow segments. Corolla narrow below, broader above, with a 5-lobed limb, the lobes sometimes unequal but the corolla not 2-lipped. Fertile stamens 4 or sometimes 2 with 2 staminodes. Bracts small and inconspicuous. Ovules 2 per loculus. Capsule oblong or linear. Derivation of name: From the Greek: cone-flower, referring to the inflorescence of some species. Comment: Cultivated for the flowers or for the ornamental foliage. Worldwide: 250 species in tropical Asia Zimbabwe: 4 cultivated taxa. |