Paepalanthus

Annual or perennial herbs; stem short or elongate. Leaves spirally arranged, narrow, thin to thick and coriaceous. Capitula single or in umbels, villous; floral bracts present; flowers 2- or 3-merous; petals eglandular. Male flowers: sepals free except at extreme base; petals connate into a glabrous infundibular tube bearing stamens on its truncate upper margin; petal tube finally involute and enclosing stamens; rudimentary pistil present; stamens as many as petals, white. Female flowers: sepals free except at extreme base, and usually becoming rigid at maturity; petals free; style with simple or bifid glandular appendages alternating with stigmas. Seeds variable, often with longitudinal ridges.