Small perennial, usually partly saprophytic herbs. Flowers bisexual, actinomorphic. Perianth 6-lobed, fused at base into a 3-winged tube. Stamens 3-6. Ovary inferior, 3-locular. Fruit a 3-winged capsule. Worldwide: 16 genera and 160 species, mainly tropical but occurring north to Japan and eastern USA and south to New Zealand. Mozambique: 1 genus and 1 taxon. |