[1] There are forty-odd species, mainly South African, mainly occurring in the Western Cape, about 25 endemic to fynbos.

There are four or eight or even twelve fleshy, subterete petals (Manning refers to them as petal-scales or petal-like-scales.

The name "stroop bossie" ("syrup bush") is locally applied to Struthiola ciliata,[2] suggesting that rural children might have been experimenting with sucking the flowers, but such explanations are necessarily speculative.

"Gonna" however, also is variously applied to the recognisably similar genus Passerina and to some other genera in the Thymelaeaceae, such as Dais.

Curiously, in spite of their modest appearance they have been quietly popular as garden plants, particularly among collectors, perhaps because of their delicate, unexpectedly arresting nocturnal scent.