Herbs or subshrubs, perennial, erect, to 100 cm tall; stems terete, flattened or weakly 4-angled, 2-or 4-sulcate, glabrescent or sparsely to densely strigillose to hirtellous throughout or in lines along grooves. Leaves petiolate; petiole 1-4 mm, densely puberulent, strigillose, or glabrescent; blade drying papery or subleathery, a bit fragile, ovate, oblong-ovate, lanceolate, or oblong-lanceolate, 2.2-8 × 1-3 cm, adaxially glabrous and shiny, abaxially sparsely to densely puberulent to strigillose, base obtuse to rounded, apex acute to shortly acuminate; secondary veins 2-4 pairs; stipules shortly fused to petiole bases, ovate, triangular, or narrowly triangular, 2-5 mm, glabrous to densely puberulent or strigillose, laciniate or glandular-setose. Inflorescence terminal, subcapitate, hemispherical to subglobose, 1.5-1.8 cm in diam., glabrescent, sessile or subsessile; bracts narrowly lanceolate to narrowly triangular, 1-5 mm; pedicels to 2 mm. Flowers sessile to pedicellate. Calyx glabrescent; hypanthium portion cylindrical, ca. 1 mm; limb deeply lobed; lobes narrowly spatulate-oblong, narrowly triangular, or narrowly elliptic, 3-4 mm, sometimes unequal, usually ciliate. Corolla funnelform, outside glabrous; tube ca. 3.5 mm, barbate in throat; lobes triangular, ca. 2.5 mm. Anthers exserted, ca. 1 mm. Stigmas not seen. Fruit capsular, subglobose to ellipsoid, ca. 2.5 mm in diam., glabrescent, cartilaginous, septicidally dehiscent then quickly loculicidal; seeds several, black, angled. Fl. Feb-Mar, fr. Aug-Nov.
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