Plants usually herbs, sometimes subshrubs, often succulent, glabrous, papillose, or hairy. Leaves alternate or opposite; stipules absent. Inflorescences leafy cymes or dense clusters of flowers. Flowers perigynous, bisexual; hypanthia short; tepals 4-5, inner faces petal-like; stamens 4-many, often in 2 or more rows or in bundles alternating with tepals; ovaries 4-10-celled; styles as many as cells, free; ovules 2-many per cell. Fruits loculicidal capsules, usually with as many or twice as many as the cells, often opening or closing in response to moisture.
Aizoon includes about 25 species, 15 in South Africa, the remainder Mediterranean or Australian except for one, Aizoon canariense, that is widespread.
Note: GBIF records include introduced and cultivated plants. Consequently, the distribution shown often differs from statements about a taxon's native distribution.