sect. Sampsonia N. Robson

Perennial herbs or rarely suffrutices up to 0.8 m tall, with stems erect or basally decumbent from sometimes woody base, glabrous, with dark glands; branching lateral, from upper or most nodes.  Stems terete, eglandular.  Leaves opposite, perfoliate, united, persistent; lamina entire with venation pinnate, closed, with tertiary reticulation rather lax; laminar glands pale or very rarely some black, punctiform, unequal; intramarginal gland dots dark; ventral resin glands absent.  Inflorescence c. 12-40-flowered with branching mostly dichasial, from 2 nodes, with subsidiary branches from up to 6 nodes below; uppermost bract pair and bracteoles reduced, deciduous, other bracts foliar, persistent.  Flowers substellate with cupuliform base, homostylous.  Sepals 5, free, persistent, erect in fruit, with margin entire; laminar glands pale and sometimes dark, striiform to punctiform; intramarginal to marginal glands dark.  Petals 5, persistent, erect after flowering, without apiculus; margin entire or with ± prominent glands[1]; marginal glands dark, immersed or ± prominent; laminar glands pale, shortly striiform to punctiform, and very rarely also dark, punctiform.  Stamen fascicles 5, united 2+2+1 (i.e. '3'), persistent, with stamens totalling 15-42; filaments basally united; anther gland dark; pollen type X.  Ovary with 3 completely or incompletely axile placentae, each ¥-ovulate; styles 3, free, outcurving from base; stigmas broadly to narrowly capitate.  Capsule 3-valved, chartaceous? with valves bearing punctiform or ± elongate vesiculate amber glands.  Seeds cylindric, not carinate or appendiculate; testa finely ribbed-scalariform.