[3] Vireya are morphologically diverse, and characterised by seeds with tailed appendages, the presence of leaf idioblasts and capsule valves which twist upon opening.

[5] The formal description (Craven 2008) is: Scales sessile or sometimes stalked, lobed to deeply incised or sometimes entire; corolla campanulate, trumpet-like, salver-shaped, tubular or funnel-shaped; stamens (5–)10(–16), exserted to included, staminal filaments glabrous or hairy from the base; capsule valves twisting after dehiscence; seeds with a distinct tail at each end.

[1][2] It has been suggested that taxonomic nomenclatural correctness requires changing the name of the Vireya rhododendrons to Schistanthe.

Thus the new subsection structure is: Characteristics:(Craven 2008) As of December 2023[update], World Flora Online treated the group as R. subg.Vireya, divided into seven sections:[2] Vireya are found throughout the Malesian Archipelago – Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Borneo, Java, the Philippines, Sulawesi, the Lesser Sunda Islands, and Maluku – and in Papuasia, which includes New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago, and the Solomon Islands.

Some Vireya species also occur in Australia, China, India, Nepal, Taiwan, and Vietnam.