The generic name is from the Latin līmōnion, used by Pliny for a wild plant and is ultimately derived from the Ancient Greek leimon (λειμών, 'meadow').

[1] The genus has a subcosmopolitan distribution in Europe, Asia, Africa, North America and Australia.

The leaves are simple, entire to lobed, and from 1–30 cm long and 0.5–10 cm broad; most of the leaves are produced in a dense basal rosette, with the flowering stems bearing only small brown scale-leaves (bracts).

The fruit is a small capsule containing a single seed, partly enclosed by the persistent calyx.

[3] Species not given a common name here are generally referred to simply as "sea-lavender", "statice," or "marsh-rosemary".