Shrubs. Stems erect or ascending, (much-branched); twigs hairy to glabrescent. Leaves persistent, opposite; petiole absent; blade coriaceous, margins spinulose-ciliate. Inflorescences terminal or axillary, racemes or panicles, 5-30-flowered; perulae absent. Flowers bisexual, radially symmetric; sepals 4, distinct; petals 4, barely connate basally, corolla persistent, campanulate; stamens 8, included; anthers with awns, dehiscent by lateral slits; ovary 5-locular, (ovoid); style slightly exserted, straight; stigma capitate. Fruits capsular, globose, dehiscence septifragal. Seeds ca. 5-10, ellipsoid, not winged, not tailed; testa (firm), ± alveolate-reticulate. x = 8.

Fls 4-merous, each closely subtended by 3 pairs of decussate bracts simulating a cal; sep distinct, petaloid, scarious, much exceeding the tubular, deeply 4-lobed cor; stamens 8, included, connivent; anthers lance-subulate, each with 2 short basal spurs, the pollen sacs distinct for more than half their length above, opening longitudinally nearly to the base; stigma deeply 4-lobed; capsule 4-valved, enclosed by the persistent perianth; branched shrubs with small, opposite, decussate lvs and small, white to pink or rose-purple fls in ±secund racemes. Monospecific.

Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

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