The family is characterized by oppositely paired, usually compound leaves and bell- or funnel-shaped, bisexual flowers having a five-lobed calyx and corolla; two long and two short stamens arising from the corolla tube; and a pistil positioned above the attachment point of the other flower parts, on a disk, and consisting of two fused, ovule-bearing carpels enclosing two, or rarely one, chambers that contain many ovules attached along the central axis. The seeds are usually flat and winged.

Among the important ornamental and useful members are the African tulip tree (Spathodea), calabash tree (Crescentia cujete), sausage tree (Kigelia pinnata), trumpet creeper (Campsis), cross vine (Bignonia capreolata), cat's claw (Macfadyena unguis-cati), the timber-producing West Indian boxwood (Tabebuia), jacaranda (Jacaranda), empress tree (Paulownia), flowering willow (Chilopsis), and Cape honeysuckle (Tecoma capensis).