• Twining, ever-growing and woody climbing plants, winding anti-clockwise (
Stephania winds clockwise) and
vines; rarely upright
shrubs or small
trees. Rarer still
herbaceous plants or
epiphytes (
Stephania cyanantha), perennial or deciduous, with simple to uni-serrate hairs. • Alternating, spiral
leaves; simple, whole, dentate, lobed to palmatifid (bi- o trifoliate in
Burasaia), frequently peltate, petiolated, petiole frequently pulvinate at both extremes, without
stipules, sometimes with spines derived from the petioles (
Antizoma),
venation, parallelodromous, penninerved or frequently palmatinerved, bifacial, rarely isofacial; in
Angelisia and
Anamirta, with
hydathodes derived from
trichomes.
Domatia present in five genera as pits or hair tufts. Various types of
stomata, frequently cyclocytic. • Rapidly-growing
stems with trilacunar nodes.
Phylloclades are present in
Cocculus balfourii. •
Dioecious plants, sometimes perfect flowers in
Tiliacora acuminata and
Parabaena denudata. •
Inflorescences in
racemiform,
paniculate or thyrse with partial inflorescences in a capituliform
cyme or
pseudo-umbel; multifloral, rarely single or paired flowers; axillary, or on sharp branches or
cauliflorous trunks; females frequently less branched. •
Flowers small, regular to zygomorphic (
Antizoma,
Cyclea,
Cissampelos); cyclic to irregularly spiral; hypogynous, basically trimers.
Receptacle sometimes with developed
gynophore.
Sepals (1-)3-12 or more, usually in (1-)2(-many) whorls of three, rarely six; free to slightly fused; imbricate or valvate, sometimes less numerous in female flowers.
Petals numbering 0–6, in two whorls of three, rarely of six; free or fused, frequently holding the opposite stamen; sometimes less numerous in female flowers. Androecium of (1-)3-6(-40)
stamens free of the perianth, free or fused together in 2–5, fasciculate or monadelphous, introrse,
dehiscence along longitudinal, oblique or transversal slits. Female flowers sometimes with staminodes. Gynoecium apocarpous, superior, of (1-)3-6(-32)
carpels, usually oppositipetalous,
stigma apical, dry, papillous,
ovules 2 per carpel, anatropous, hemianatropous to campilotropous, uni- or bitegmic, crassinucellate, the superior epitropous and fertile, the inferior apotropous and abortive,
placentation marginal ventral. Male flowers sometimes with carpelodes. •
Fruits are compound; each unit in a straight or flattened, asymmetric
drupe; more or less stipitate (rarely only one developed); non coalescing;
exocarp sub-coriaceous or membranous,
mesocarp pulpy, fleshy or fibrous,
endocarp woody to petrous, rough, tuberous, echinate or ribbed, often with a recess in the placenta called a condyle. •
Seeds slightly curved or spiral (
Limaciopsis,
Spirospermum), with
endosperm absent or present, totally or only ventrally ruminate or not ruminate, oleaginous,
embryo straight or curved, with two cotyledons flat or cylindrical, leafy or fleshy,
divaricate or applied. •
Pollen tricolpate, without
operculum nor
ribs, tectum perreticulate columellate, endexine granular; or the pollen can be colporate (
Abuta), syncolporate (
Tinospora), pororate or hexa-cryptoporate (with 6 apertures). •
Chromosomal number:
x = 11, 13, 19, 25.
2n can be up to 52. ==Ecology==