Herbaceous annual up to 60 cm high, covered with numerous thorns; yellow latex. Sessile, alternate, sinuate-pinnatifid leaves 8-20 cm long, short and wide lobes, thorny margins. Solitary terminal hermaphrodite flowers; calyx of 3 spiny sepals; corolla with 6 petals, yellow or white, 2-3 cm. Capsule with 4-6 shells of 4-5 cm, spiny.

Tree up to 10 m tall. Petiolate, coriaceous, oblong-elliptic to rounded-elliptic leaves, rounded at the apex, acute or obtuse at the base. Flowers in terminal panicles, linear-lanceolate purple petals. Reniform, grey nut on a large, thick, somewhat spongy, juicy, red or yellow hypocarp.

Herb of up to 3 m in height, growing in clusters. Narrowly elliptic leaves, up to 70 cm long and 10 cm wide, acuminate apex, cuneate base, glabrous to dense and often pubescent. Inflorescence a raceme or pendulous thyrse, bracts absent; bractlets widely elliptical, white with a red apex; corolla 4 to 5 cm long, almost glabrous, white with red apex, ovate labellum, yellow with red stripes. Globular capsule, 2 cm in diameter.
 

Acaulescent or short-stemmed, stoloniferous plant. Lanceolate leaves of 30 to 60 cm, long-acuminate, spiny-dentate. Scape inflorescence up to 1.2 m with lanceolate or ovate, acute bracts; yellow flowers 2.5 cm long in dense clusters of 10 to 30 cm. Dehiscent capsules (fruit) with black seeds