Penaea

Shrubs or undershrubs, with 4-ridged branchlets. Leaves dense, usually overlapping. Flowers lateral in axils of foliaceous bracts; bracteoles usually 2. Perianth: tube cylindric, sometimes somewhat contracted towards base and throat, dirty yellow sometimes turning bright purple; lobes valvate, much shorter than tube, erect. Stamens +/- as long as perianth lobes; filaments shorter than anthers; anthers with thick, fleshy connective, with thecae obliquely placed near inner base. Ovary 4-locular, with 2-4 ascending ovules in each locule; style with 4 longitudinal, membranous wings, readily separable into 4 parts, arranged in cruciform manner at apex of wings. Fruit a 4-valved capsule, with persistent style base. Seeds sometimes 1 by abortion in each valve, oblong, brown, funicled.