Perennial herbs. Rootstock (in ours) a tuber. Stems annual, erect, ridged, leafy. Leaves (in ours) cauline, alternate, distichous. Flowers (in ours) axillary, solitary, pendulous; peduncle long thin erect, prickly, with a bract resembling a minute leaf, the pedicel recurved. Perianth pink or white, the 6 segments fused below, spreading-reflexed. Stamens 6; anthers opening by apical pores. Ovary semi-inferior. Capsule subspherical. Seeds black, coarsely papillose, the papillae bearing small tufts of hairs. Worldwide: 7 genera and 24 species, Turkey to C Asia, Africa, S America, north to California. |
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