Plant of 6 to 10 m, stoloniferous. Petiolate leaves of up to 2 m, arranged in a spiral, simple, entire, broadly elliptical, penninervate. Spiciform inflorescences growing from the corm through the pseudostem, recurve-hanging; white-yellowish flowers, on peaks along the main axis, covered by large bracts. Cylindrical fruit of up to 30 cm, yellow or greenish when ripe.

Tree 5 to 10 m, the trunk is generally slim and irregular. Leaves alternate, pinnate, oblong, short petiole; leaflets opposite, numerous, short petioles, 1-2 cm, obtuse, entire, pale. Numerous, white, aromatic flowers in axillary panicles; petals slightly longer than the sepals. Linear capsule, triangular, sloping, up to 45 cm long, dehiscent, ash-yellow in colour; seeds generally winged, oleaginous.

Tree or shrub, up to 6 m high.  Leaves opposite, elliptic, petioles 1-2 cm long, winged, blades glabrous, broadly ovate or elliptic, 17-45 cm x 8-24 cm, base obtuse, apex acuminate; stipules rounded 1-2 cm long and broad; flowers sessile on globose heads, corolla tube white, 6-10 mm long; fruits fused into a ‘pineapple-like’ globose structure 5-7 cm long and 3-7 cm in diameter, becoming white then semi-tranlucent with fetid smell when ripe.

Climbing herb of up to 6 m, usually very ramified. Alternate leaves 4-12 cm, 5-7 lobate; lobes obtuse or mucronulate with serrate or crenate margins. Yellow corolla, obtuse or emarginate segments of 1.5 to 2 cm. Ellipsoid, tuberculate, dehiscent fruit, 5 to 15 cm in diameter, yellow to orange, with 3 shells; red-coloured pulp; elliptic, flat seeds, 10 to 16 mm.

Herbaceous, up to 1.5 m; branched stem with erect or ascendingbranches. Leaves ovate, apex acute or attenuate, base rounded or subcordate (heart shaped), frequently ciliate, sometimes pubescent; peduncles almost always 1 to 2 mm long. Numerous flowers clustered at the tops of the branches, often surrounded

Annual plant or subshrub, pilose, with recurved spines on the stems. Leaves with 1 to 2 pairs of pinnae, leaflets of 15 to 25 pairs, oblong or linear oblong of 5 to 10 mm, obtuse or acute. Pink flowers in globular heads, pedunculate. Linear oblong legume, segmented, from 1 to 1.5 cm, with bristles on the margins.