Small shrubs or suffrutices. Leaves opposite. Flowers usually in cymes, or solitary and axillary, or in terminal spikes or heads with reduced leaves; bracts and bracteoles sometimes spiny. Calyx 4-partite; segments unequal, leaf-like or membranous, sometimes spiny, the two outer enclosing the inner. Corolla ± actinomorphic, 4-5-lobed or ± 2-lipped, with a tubular base; lobes obovate, sometimes unequal. Stamens 2 or 4, not didynamous. Ovary 2-locular with 2 ovules per loculus. Capsule solid in upper part; seeds flat with hygroscopic hairs. Derivation of name: After Jacques Barrelier (1606-1673), a Dominican monk and French botanist Worldwide: 250 species in the tropics Zambia: 31 taxa. Insects associated with this genus:
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| Species | FZ divisions | Content |
| aenea I. Darbysh. | N | |
| ameliae A. Meeuse | N,E,S | Description, Image |
| boehmii Lindau | N | |
| calophylloides Lindau subsp. calophylloides | N | |
| capitata Klotzsch | S | Description, Image |
| crassa C.B. Clarke subsp. crassa | B,N,W,C,S | Description, Image |
| crassa C.B. Clarke subsp. mbalensis I. Darbysh. | N | |
| crassa C.B. Clarke subsp. ramulosoides I. Darbysh. | N,C | |
| descampsii Lindau | N,W | Description, Image |
| fulvostellata C.B. Clarke subsp. axillaris I. Darbysh. | N,C,E | |
| glutinosa Champl. | C,E | |
| holstii Lindau | N | Image |
| kaessneri S. Moore | W | |
| lugardii C.B.Clarke | Description, Image | |
| mackenii Hook.f. | B,C,S | Description, Image |
| matopensis S.Moore | S | Description, Image |
| phaylopsis Milne-Redh. | B,N,W | Description, Image |
| purpureotincta I. Darbysh. | B,S | |
| rhodesiaca Oberm. | S | Image |
| richardsiae I. Darbysh. | N | |
| sceptrum-katanganum Champl. | W | |
| senensis Klotzsch | C,E,S | Description, Image |
| sp. A | N | |
| sp. B | E | |
| sp. C | N | |
| spinulosa Klotzsch subsp. kirkii (T.Anderson) I.Darbysh. | C,S | Image |
| spinulosa Klotzsch subsp. spinulosa | N,W,C,E,S | Description, Image |
| sunzuana Brummitt & Seyani | N | |
| taitensis S. Moore subsp. rogersii (S.Moore) I.Darbysh. | S | |
| velutina Champl. | W | Description, Image |
| ventricosa Hochst. ex Nees | Description, Image |