large family of tropical herbs or shrubs or lianas; in some classification systems placed in the order Scrophulariales

Gesneriaceae is a family of flowering plants consisting of ca. 150 genera and ca. 3200 species in the Old World and New World tropics and subtropics, with a very small number extending to temperate areas. Most species are perennial herbs or subshrubs but a few are woody shrubs or small trees. On the basis of both morphological and biogeographical differences the family is divided into two major subfamilies: subfamily Cyrtandroideae in the Old World and subfamily Gesnerioideae in the New World.