Herbs, perennial, epipetric, rhizomatous, stemless. Leaves few to many, basal; leaf blade sparsely appressed puberulent, base cuneate to subrounded. Inflorescences umbel-like, lax, axillary, few-flowered cymes; bracts 2, subopposite. Calyx actinomorphic, 5-sect from base; segments equal. Corolla white to pink or purple, actinomorphic, inside glabrous; tube nearly urceolate, not swollen, longer than limb, 2-5 mm in diam.; limb 5-lobed; lobe apex acute to acuminate. Stamens 5, adnate to corolla near base, included; anthers basifixed, free, thecae divergent, confluent at apex, dehiscing longitudinally; connective with short apical projection; staminodes absent. Disc ringlike. Ovary narrowly ovoid to linear, 1-loculed; placentas 2, parietal, projecting inward, 2-cleft. Stigma 1, terminal, punctiform, undivided. Capsule straight in relation to pedicel, fusiform-linear, much longer than calyx, dehiscing loculicidally to base; valves 4, straight, not twisted. Seeds unappendaged.

* One species: endemic to China.