Mostly herbs or undershrubs, with or without stinging hairs. Leaves simple, stipulate, rarely exstipulate, alternate or opposite, often with dot-like or linear cystoliths. Inflorescence axillary, cymose or fasciculate, rarely flower solitary. Flowers minute, usually greenish, unisexual, (plants monoecious or dioecious), actinomorphic, hypogynous. Perianth calycine. Calyx (3-)4-5-lobed, often enlarged in fruit, rarely absent in female flowers, lobes equal or unequal, imbricate or valvate, rarely sepals free. Petals absent. Stamens (3-)4-5, rarely solitary, antisepalous, generally inflexed in bud; anthers bithecous, dehiscence longitudinal; staminodes scaly or absent in female flowers. Ovary monocarpellary, free or rarely adnate to calyx, unilocular, uniovulate, ovule orthotropous, erect or ascending, pseudobasal, rarely apical; style simple; stigma capitate and mostly penicillate. Pistillode present in male flowers. Fruit a monospermous achene or fleshy drupe, more or less enveloped by persistent membranous calyx. Seed albuminous. Embryo straight.

59 genera and about 2600 species

Gonostegia pentandra

Urtica urens