Fls solitary or in few-fld cymes, axillary; calyx and corolla 5-lobed. Stamens 4, didynamous, exserted; anthers 1-celled; styles unequally bifid. Ovary 2-loculed, 4-lobed; ovules 1 per lobe, pend. Fr. dry, 4-lobed, 4-seeded, invested by persistent calyx, separating into 4 cocci. Softly wooded ± virgate shrubs with 4-angled branchlets and opp., simple lvs. Genus of 1 sp., endemic to N.Z.

Perennial, rarely annual, herbs or small shrubs, sometimes rhizomatous. Lvs simple, usually toothed. Bracts leaflike or reduced. Verticels either axillary with 1-3 fls or fls sometimes in terminal heads or spikes. Calyx tubular or campanulate, sometimes gibbous at base, equally 5-toothed, or 2-lipped with unequal teeth. Corolla tube included or exserted, ± curved, usually short, without a ring of hairs inside; limb with lower lip 5-lobed, the terminal lobe much the largest; upper lip 0. Stamens usually long-exserted and curved. Style not gynobasic, its branches equal. Nutlets smooth or reticulate.