Shrubs evergreen. Leaves petiolate, serrulate or subentire. Inflorescences axillary, racemose, glabrous. Flowers 5-merous. Calyx lobes short. Corolla white, suburceolate to tubular; lobes recurved, short. Stamens much shorter than corolla tube; filaments straight, flattened; anthers oblong, thecae separate above, each opening by a terminal pore and with a slender awn. Ovary superior, glabrous, with many ovules per locule. Stigma capitate, 5-lobed. Capsule loculicidal, depressed globose. Seeds flattened, angled; testa smooth, shiny, reticulate.

Six species: E Asia, North America (SE United States); two species in China.

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