(botany) A small family of monoecious dicotyledonous plants in which flowers have several carpels which are separate, three or four stamens, and more or less orthotropous ovules, and leaves are stipulate.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms. Copyright © 2003, 1994, 1989, 1984, 1978, 1976, 1974 by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.