Herbs perennial, to 1 m tall. Rhizomes creeping, slender, bearing pseudostems at intervals. Leaves 1--8; ligule entire or 2-lobed; petiole erect, long; leaf blade ovate, lanceolate, elliptic, or oblong. Inflorescences arising from base of pseudostems, with flowers spaced along rachis or sometimes in an erect, dense head; rachis prostrate or erect, simple or branched; bracts 1- or 2-flowered; bracteoles open, not tubular. Calyx white or pinkish, tubular, apex 2- or 3-toothed. Corolla tube longer than calyx, slender; lobes 3, ovate-oblong or elliptic. Lateral staminodes absent or very short. Filament short and broad; connective appendage ± quadrate, lateral lobes not spreading. Ovary 3-loculed; ovules numerous per locule. Stigma obconical, ciliate. Stylodes 2, slender. Capsule globose, glabrous.

About 12 species: China, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam; one species in China.