Annual, rarely biennial herbs, glabrous, glaucous, sometimes with pale violet appearance, sparsely branched from below, or simple. Leaves ovate or ovate-elliptic, entire (rarely obscurely toothed) ; lower often many, shortly stalked or sub-sessile; upper sessile, usually cordate, amplexicaul. Racemes lax, elongating in fruit, ebracteate. Flowers usually white (rarely pinkish) or yellowish; pedicel short ± thickened in fruit. Sepals erect, subequal, inner subsaccate at the base. Petals obovate-oblong, clawed, apex obtuse. Stamens 6; filaments simple; anthers oblong, obtuse. Lateral nectar glands semi-annular, often bilobed; middle usually absent. Ovary narrowly cylindrical, sessile, 12-50-ovuled; stigma usually 2-lobed, depressed capitate or with slightly decurrent lobes. Siliquae linear, often elongated, with or without a beak, compressed, flat, 4 or 8—angled due to ribs on the valves, dehiscent, bilocular; valves 0-3 parallel-veined; beak short narrowly cylindrical or tapering, sterile; septum membranous, not veined; seeds uniseriate, oblong-ellipsoid, brown, not winged, finely granulate; cotyledons conduplicate.
Distinguished from Douepia by the usual absence of middle nectar glands, cordate-amplexicaul stem leaves, oblong-obtuse stamens and petals not strap-shaped. It can also be differentiated from Moricandia by its uniseriate seeds, subsaccate inner sepals and fruits elongated. From both it differs by its slender annual habit.
About 8 species, chiefly in C. Europe, Mediterranean region and Central and S.W. Asia; only 3 species are known from W. Pakistan.
