Herbs annual. Stem erect or ascending. Leaves alternate, petiolate, linear to obovate, margin entire. Heads terminal or axillary, composed of 3-7-flowered cymes, stalked or subsessile. Flowers bisexual; each flower with 1 bract and 2 bracteoles, scarious. Stamens 5; filaments basally connate into a short cup, pseudostaminodes absent; anthers 2-loculed. Ovary ovoid; ovule 1, erect; style filiform; stigma slightly 2-lobed. Utricles ovate, dehiscent by lid. Seeds black, subglobose, lenticular, with aril.

One species: tropical Asia.