Their leathery, evergreen leaves are simple and alternate, with smooth margins and without stipules.

Their small flowers are arranged in racemose terminal clusters, or in the leaf axils.

The carpel has one style and one stigma, with the ovary unilocular, superior or semi-inferior.

[1] North American species are the marlberry (Ardisia escalloniodes) and the Florida rapanea (Myrsine cubana).

The following genera, traditionally categorized in Primulaceae sensu lato, should, according to Källersjö et al. (2000), belong to the Myrsinoideae (the clade of Myrsinaceae s. l.): Anagallis, Ardisiandra, Asterolinon, Coris, Cyclamen, Glaux, Lysimachia, Pelletiera and Trientalis.