Plants perennial herbs or shrubs, dioecious or semidioecious. Leaves with Kranz-type anatomy. Pistillate flowers lacking perianth, enclosed by a pair of bracteoles. Bracteoles ovoid to fan-shaped or subcircular, united to about middle, faces lacking tubercles. Seeds erect; radicle lateral.

Species 14 species (2 in the flora): introduced; rather widely distributed, including North America, Australia.