GESNERIACEAE

 

Mostly epiphytic Herb or shrubs. Leaves opposite or in basal roseties, usually decussate, rarely alternate, usually herbaceous and hairy, flowers howy, solitary in leaf axils or in cymose inflorescences, bisexual, zygomorphic, calyx 5- lobed, the lobes sometimes basally connate, valvate or rarely imbricate, corolla typically 5 lobed; rotate to campanulate , mostly bilabiate, imbricate; a staminode often present, the anther coherent in pairs , rarely distinct, 2-celled, dehiscing longitudinally annular nectiferous disc conspicuous,  ovules numerous, style 1 slender, the stigma often bilobed; fruit usually a loculicidal capsule, seeds numerous, minute, usually with a abundant endosperm.