Description: Herbs, dioecious or monoecious.
Leaves opposite, mostly petiolate; stipules fused.
Flowers in axillary cymes or panicles. Male flowers with usually 4 perianth segments; stamens same number as segments. Female flowers with 3 unequal perianth segments, staminodes scale-like; stigma sessile, much branched.
Achenes ± covered in persistent perianth.
Distribution and occurrence: World: c. 400 species, tropical regions. Australia: 1 species (naturalized).
Text by G. J. Harden
Taxon concept:
| One species in NSW: Pilea microphylla |
|
