Plants scapigerous, glabrous. Leaves alternate, mostly basal, entire or not, persistent. Flowers in terminal bracteate racemes. Filaments dilated at the base, glabrous; anther dehiscence by 2 apical pores at the end of 2 very short tubes. Ovary 5-locular; style persistent, ± erect to curved; stigma 5-lobed. Disc absent. Capsule splitting by 5 valves from the base loculicidally. Seeds produced at both ends.