Shrubs, deciduous, most parts glabrous; buds perulate, apex acute. Leaves long petiolate; stipules large, linear, caducous; leaf blade broadly ovate to obovate, thinly leathery or membranous, margin entire, palmately 5–7-veined. Inflorescence with 2 opposite flowers, axillary on short lateral branches; peduncle very short; involucral bracts several, glabrous except for margins; floral bracts hairy. Flowers bisexual, sessile, hypogynous. Floral cup short and broad, hairy. Sepals 5, broader than long, recurved at anthesis. Petals 5, red, linear-lanceolate, circinate in bud. Stamens 5; filaments short; anthers extrorse, thecae 2-sporangiate, each dehiscing by curved longitudinal slit. Ovary superior; ovules 5 or 6 per locule; styles short, stigmas minute. Capsules woody, dehiscing loculicidally by 2 valves; endocarp bony, separated from exocarp. Seeds ellipsoid, unequal. 2n = 16.

One species: China, Japan.