Chiogenes Salisbury.

Shrubs evergreen. Stems erect, creeping, or procumbent. Leaves spirally arranged, petiolate; leaf blade serrate or rarely entire. Flower usually 5-merous, sometimes 4-merous, in axillary or terminal racemes or panicles, or solitary; bracteoles variable in position. Calyx deeply divided. Corolla usually white, urceolate, campanulate, or tubular, shallowly lobed. Stamens included; filaments flattened, usually dilated towards base; anthers oblong, dehiscing by terminal pores, with 2–4 awns or minute projections. Ovary superior or semi-inferior, with many ovules per locule. Stigma truncate. Calyx at fruiting accrescent, fleshy; capsule dehiscing loculicidally or sometimes irregularly [fruit a berry]. Seeds small, unwinged.

About 135 species: E and S Asia, SE Australia (including Tasmania), North and South America, Pacific Islands (New Zealand); 32 species (15 endemic) in China.

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