Herbs annual or perennial, 30-90 cm tall, glabrous. Stem erect, angular. Leaves pinnatifid, papery; lobes in 5-15 pairs, linear, attenuate at base, margin entire or repand. Flowers in terminal, dense racemes. Sepals usually 5, linear, equaling pedicel. Petals usually 5, subrounded-clawed at base, 3-lobed for 1/3-2/3 their length; lateral lobes often again lobed. Stamens 11-14. Carpels 4. Capsule erect, oblong, 4-angled, 8-15 mm, apically constricted and 4-cleft. Seeds light brown, reniform, ca. 1 mm. 2n = 20, 40.

Cultivated for ornament. Taiwan [native to the Mediterranean region; widely naturalized elsewhere].