Rhizomes creeping, slender. Pseudostems erect, usually to 1.5 m, leafy. Leaves sessile or very shortly petiolate; ligule entire; leaf blade oblong, elliptic, or lanceolate. Inflorescence terminal, a thyrse or raceme, often lax; bracts each subtending a cincinnus of flowers, or flowers replaced by bulblets; bracteoles free to base. Calyx campanulate or turbinate, apex obtusely 3-lobed. Corolla tube slender; lobes ovate or oblong, subequal, concave. Lateral staminodes petaloid. Labellum reflexed, adnate to filament to form a slender tube above lateral staminodes and corolla lobes. Filament long, curved; anther with or without appendages on each side. Ovary 1-loculed. Capsule globose or ellipsoid, apex irregularly dehiscent. Seeds small; aril white, lacerate.

About 100 species: tropical Asia, one species in Australia; five species (two endemic) in China.