Their leaves are typically grouped in umbrella-shaped arrangements at the tips of long erect branches. The leaves are carried on long petioles, and have conspicuous stipules. The leaves are very variable in shape, often palmately compound with leaflets likewise variable in shape, but also simple or palmate. Their usually dense inflorescences are often spiked, and their small flowers usually have 5 greenish petals. Their stems and underground parts are succulent, and their bark is often corky. It originated in Africa and has its center of distribution in South Africa and the Mascarene Islands. They occur in grasslands, woodlands and forests, from sea level to over 2000 m in altitude. Geographically, they are indigenous to sub-Saharan Africa, Yemen in the Arabian Peninsula and the Comoro Islands.