A mainly tropical and subtropical family of varied habit, though all with opposite or whorled, exstipulate and sometimes fragrant leaves, often on four-angled stems. Ptyxis is conduplicate as a rule, conduplicate-plicate in Tectona. The inflorescences are racemose (less often cymose – Clerodendrum, Premna, and Vitex), but often congested, and made up of small five-part flowers with a two-lipped corolla, four stamens and a two- to eight-celled ovary with a terminal style. The fruit is a drupe, or a schizocarp splitting into four nutlets.

Several ornamental species have been introduced from tropical America, e.g. Petrea volubilis, a climber in which the persistent blue calyx lobes act like helicopter rotors in dispersing the fruit. Duranta repens (now D. erecta: Bromley, 1984), a shrub commonly planted as a hedge, has tubular blue flowers and yellow ‘drupes’. Lantana camara (wild sage or curse of Barbados) has short spikes of yellow or reddish flowers and does not set fruit in West Africa. In the West Indies it is probably pollinated by butterflies.

From tropical Asia, Gmelina arborea, with large flowers suitable for investigation, and Tectona grandis have been introduced as plantation trees, while Holmskioldia sanguinea (Chinaman's hat) and Clerodendrum spp., e.g. C. fragrans (now C. philippinum; Howard & Powell, 1968), are ornamentals.

Black mangrove (Avicennia Africana) is now placed in its own family Avicenniaceae, Congea tomentosa (with three large persistent bracts and bracteoles per flower) in Symphoremataceae. The former family is monogeneric, the latter trigeneric, both with free central placentation.