Herbs annual. Stem erect, much branched from base; branches ascending, slender, pubescent. Leaves alternate, sessile or shortly petiolate, lanceolate, oblong-lanceolate, oblong-ovate, or ovate, complanate. Flowers bisexual and female (plants polygamous), without bractlets. Perianth tubular, mostly 5-lobed, membranous, cottony, without appendages, adnate to pericarp. Stamens 5, exserted. Style short; stigmas 2 or 3. Seed vertical in bisexual flowers, horizontal in female flowers; embryo horseshoe-shaped.

One species: C and SW Asia extending to China and Mongolia.