Plants monoec. or polygamodioec. Fls solitary, sessile. Receptacle obconic, adnate to ovary; calyx-lobes 5-9, ± equal, corolla subregular, tube short, lobes 4-9, ± equal, staminal column erect. Epig. glands 2, semilunar. Capsule turbinate, indehiscent or irregularly dehiscent; seeds minute, ∞, obovoid. Glab. herbs, sts softly woody at base, with very densely placed short stems and branches clad in small, thick, coriac., densely imbricate, entire, sessile lvs, rounded on back. Plants forming hard cushionlike or matlike masses. Genus of a few spp. of N.Z., Tasmania, Fuegia.