Succulent, villous, annual herbs. Leaves opposite, lanceolate, narrowed slightly to a broad petiole, partly ensheathing stem. Flowers 1–3, terminal, pedicellate. Sepals 5, 2 large and leaf-like, 3 short and broad with membranous margins. Petal-like staminodes many, yellow; stamens many. Styles 12–20; ovary inferior; locules 12–20; placentation basal or parietal. Fruit a hygroscopic capsule; valves without wings; expanding keels contiguous, ending in awns; locules without roofs; placental tubercles absent. Seeds roundish, compressed.
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