Lythrarieae
A natural order of herbs, shrubs, or trees, with variable habit, natives chiefly of tropical America. Flowers hermaphrodite, very rarely unisexual, regular or rarely irregular, solitary in the axils of the leaves, or fascicled or cymose, sometimes spiked or racemed, and accompanied by floral bracteiform leaves, rarely panicled; calyx very often free, persistent, tubular or campanulate, rarely urceolate. Leaves oppoiste or whorled, rarely opposite and alternate on the same plant, simple, penninerved, entire, petioled or sessile, sometimes glandular dotted, always exstipulate. There are about thirty genera and 250 species. Illustrative genera are: Cuphea, Grislea, Lythrum.