Shrubs or small trees, deciduous, rarely evergreen. Leaves clustered at ends of twigs, petiolate; leaf blade serrate or subentire. Inflorescence terminal, in umbels or corymbose racemes, flowers rarely solitary or in pairs, 5-merous. Corolla broadly campanulate to urceolate; lobes short. Stamens much shorter than corolla; filaments flattened, distinctly dilated towards base; anthers oblong, thecae each dehiscing by an elongate slit, awned at apex; pollen grains single. Ovary superior, with few ovules per locule; stigma truncate. Capsule loculicidal, ovoid. Seeds several or one; testa lamellate-winged.

Twelve species: from the E Himalayas through China to Japan, extending south to Indochina; seven species (four endemic) in China.

(Authors: Fang Ruizheng (方瑞征 Fang Rhui-cheng); Peter F. Stevens)