Saxifragaceae

Non-woody (herbaceous) perennials, rarely biennials or annuals; with or without rhizomes and/or stolons. Stems upright to creeping, smooth or sometimes with gland-tipped hairs; flowering stems appearing in spring, summer, or autumn with leaves usually present. Leaves usually in basal rosettes, sometimes along stem, usually alternate, sometimes opposite, usually simple with or without stalks; stipules absent or present. Edges of leaf blade smooth, or sometimes with blunt to sharp teeth; leaf edges sometimes with a fringe of hairs that may be gland-tipped.

Flowers sometimes solitary, usually in spikes, racemes, panicles or cymes, usually at the top of the stem and the ends of upper branches; cymes sometimes in leaf axils. Each flower usually radially symmetrical (sometimes bilateral), and usually producing both pollen and seeds. Sepals and petals each 4-6 (usually 5), usually separate; petals sometimes cleft or lobed, rarely absent. Stamens 2-10. Carpels usually 2, rarely 3, usually equal, fused at base to form 1 pistil (degree of fusion may sometimes be minimal so it seems like there are 2 or 3 pistils); ovary located above (superior) or below (inferior) the point of attachment of other flower parts, with 1-3 chambers; ovary sometimes lobed, often ringed by a nectar-producing disc; styles 2-4, separate or fused; stigmas 2-4, head-shaped. Fruits are capsules with 2-4 beaks and 5-200 seeds; seeds released when capsules split apart between beaks.