Ancient name for Spurrey which was originally part of the genus.
Annual or perennial herbs. Stems slender, erect or spreading. Leaves narrow and pointed to linear-lanceolate, slightly joined around the stem; stipules absent. Flowers terminal or axillary, small, stalked, solitary or a few in a cluster. Sepals and petals 4 or 5, white (occasionally absent). Styles 4 or 5; spring to summer. Fruit a capsule opening to the base by 4 valves; seeds numerous.
Garden weeds of crevices, paths etc.
About 30 species from the temperate northern hemisphere.
Source: (1997). Caryophyllaceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 2. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 1. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.