Herbs perennial. Roots long, stout. Stem erect, hollow, sulcate, glabrous or strigose. Leaves basal and cauline, simple, sinuate-dentate or palmate, the basal ones sparse, dense, or in a rosette, larger than the alternate cauline leaves, the latter sometimes lacking; ocrea usually large, membranous, margin entire. Inflorescence simple or branched, usually paniculate, or spikelike or spherical. Pedicel articulate. Flowers bisexual or polygamo-monoecious. Perianth persistent, tepals 6. Stamens usually 9 (6+3), rarely 7 or 8. Styles 3, short, horizontal; stigmas inflated, recurved. Achenes trigonous, winged.

About 60 species: temperate and subtropical Asia; 38 species (19 endemic) in China.

(Authors: Bao Bojian (包伯坚); Alisa E. Grabovskaya-Borodina)