Description:

• Annual, biennial or perennial herbs, erect or straggling, rarely shrublets or trees
• Leaves mostly opposite, sometimes verticillate, very rarely alternate; stipules 0
• Inflorescence cymose or rarely racemose, flowers sometimes solitary or crowded into fascicles or globose heads, rarely verticillate (Enicostema)
• Flowers bisexual or rarely unisexual, regular or rarely slightly irregular, (3)4- or 5(6-16)-merous, often heterostylous
• Calyx mostly gamosepalous, usually with a short to well developed tube and imbricate or sometimes valvate or open lobes, sometimes lobes much reduced or suppressed, rarely sepals nearly free
• Corolla gamopetalous, usually with contorted lobes, usually as many as calyx lobes
• Stamens arising on corolla tube or in throat, free or rarely connate by anthers, as many as corolla lobes and alternating with them; anthers sometimes twisted, opening by longitudinal slits, rarely by terminal pores (Exacum)
• Disc 0, annular or of 5 hypogynous glands
• Ovary superior, either 1-locular with parietal placentas, or 2-locular by intrusion of locular walls and with axile placentation
• Fruit a capsule, dehiscing septicidally, rarely berry-like, usually many-seeded
• Seeds few to many, with fleshy or oily endosperm

Nomenclature:

• Gentianaceae
  • Baker & Brown: 544 (1903)
  • Marais & Verdoorn: 171 (1963)
  • Friedrich-Holzhammer: 1 (1967)
  • Paiva & Nogueira: 3 (1990)
  • Takhtajan: 426 (1996)

Distribution & Notes:

• Global: Genera 89, species ± 1200, fairly cosmopolitan and mostly in temperate and subtropical regions
• Southern Africa: Genera 9, species 70
  • Nymphoides and Villarsia are dealt with under Menyanthaceae
  • Faroa salutaris Welw. is recorded from southern Africa by Marais & Verdoorn (1963) and by Paiva & Nogueira (1990). No specimens of this species from southern Africa were seen

References:

• BAKER, J.G. & BROWN, N.E. 1903. Gentianeae. Flora of tropical Africa 4,1
• FRIEDRICH-HOLZHAMMER, M. 1967. Gentianaceae. Prodromus einer Flora von Südwestafrika 110
• MARAIS, W. & VERDOORN, I.C. 1963. Gentianaceae. Flora of southern Africa 26
• PAIVA, J.A.R. & NOGUEIRA, I. 1990. Gentianaceae. Flora zambesiaca 7,4
• TAKHTAJAN, A. 1996. Diversity and classification of flowering plants. Columbia University Press, New York

Resources:

• Key to Gentianaceae genera

• Gentianaceae genera: