Leather flower

Vines, ± woody, sometimes only at base, climbing by means of tendril-like petioles and leaf rachises, or erect, herbaceous perennials, from elongate rhizomes. Leaves cauline, opposite, simple or compound, sessile or petiolate. Leaf blade undivided or 1-3-pinnately or -ternately compound; leaf or leaflets cordate to orbiculate, oblong, lanceolate, or oblanceolate, lobed or unlobed, margins entire or toothed. Inflorescences axillary and/or terminal, 1-many-flowered cymes or panicles or flowers solitary or in fascicles, to 15 cm; bracts present and leaflike or ± scalelike or absent, not forming involucre. Flowers bisexual or unisexual, radially symmetric; sepals not persistent in fruit, 4, white, blue, violet, red, yellow, or greenish, plane, ovate to obovate or linear, 6-60 mm; petals absent; sometimes anther-bearing staminodes between sepals and stamens; stamens many; filaments filiform to flattened; pistils 5-150, simple; ovule 1 per pistil; beak present. Fruits achenes, aggregate, sessile, lenticular, nearly terete, or flattened-ellipsoid, sides not prominently veined; beak terminal, straight or curved, 12-110 mm. X = 8.