Description: Shrubs or undershrubs.
Leaves opposite or in 3-leaved whorls.
Flowers axillary, solitary, rarely clustered; bracteoles 2. Calyx 2-lipped or 5-toothed. Corolla 2-lipped; tube expanded in throat; lower lip longer than upper lip, spreading, 3-lobed; upper lip erect, emarginate or 2-lobed. Stamens 4 or rarely 2 and then staminodes 2; anthers 1-locular, with connective elongated into an appendage or sterile branch; lower anthers with connective glabrous and attenuate or bearing an imperfect loculus at end; upper anthers with connective dilated and bearded or crested at end with short hairs, or glabrous. Ovary 4-lobed; style terminal, but inserted between ovary lobes; stigma 2-fid.
Distribution and occurrence: World: c. 40 species, endemic Australia. Australia: Qld, N.S.W., but mainly W.A.
Text by B. J. Conn
Taxon concept:
| | Key to the species | |
| 1 | Leaves oblong, 2–4 mm wide; calyx lobes shorter than tube; corolla about twice as long as calyx | Hemigenia cuneifolia |
| Leaves linear, to 1 mm wide; calyx lobes much longer than tube; corolla equal to or only slightly longer than calyx | Hemigenia purpurea |
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