Evergreen or deciduous climbing shrubs with tendrils. Leaves alternate, simple or compound. Flowers small and inconspicuous, in cymes or panicles opposite the leaves, rarely axillary. The structure of the flowers is very much as in the preceding order, except that here the calyx-lobes are imbricate in aestivation. The stamens are opposite the petals, and the latter are valvate, cohering at their tips, and falling off without separating. The fruit is a berry, often juicy, usually 2-celled, cells 1- or 2-seeded. Only 3 genera are now admitted into this family, containing about 250 species, distributed throughout the warmer and tropical regions.