Perennials. Rhizomes horizontal to vertical, short, thick, ± fleshy. Stems branching sympodially, with 1 to few erect simple flowering stems but nonflowering basal rosette usually absent. Lowermost stem leaves scalelike. Bracts 2 per flower, well developed. Capsules broadly ellipsoid. Seeds linear to fusiform, winged at both ends; seed coat coarsely reticulate.

Thirty-eight species: North America, Asia, Europe; four species in China.