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Stamens 10, very unequal (subequal in osbeckioid forms); pedoconnectives of the anthers of the longer stamens with a deeply bilobed anterior appendage (the lobes club-shaped) and a small posterior spur at the base; appendage of the pedoconnectives of the shorter stamens similar but smaller.
Flowers 5-merous, subsessile, in terminal many-flowered heads surrounded by persistent bracts at the apices of the branches or in l–2(3)-flowered terminal cymes or flowers axillary and solitary.
Receptacle glabrous or setose at the base or on the upper half (the bristles not in rings) or covered everywhere by stellate or palmate bristles.
Ovary 5-locular, adnate to the receptacle by 10 longitudinal septa.
Perennial herbs or shrubs with 4-gonous branches.
Sepals persistent; intersepalar segments 0.
Petals obovate, mauve, purple or violet.
Leaves petiolate, opposite, entire.
Capsule 5-valved.
Seeds cochleate.