Shrubs, evergreen, ca. 1 m tall. Branches dark gray, terete; shoots pale yellow; spines 3-fid, pale yellow, 1.2-1.7 cm. Leaves subsessile; leaf blade abaxially pale yellow, adaxially dark green, ovate-elliptic, 1.5-3.5 × 0.5-1.3 cm, leathery, both surfaces not pruinose, abaxially with raised midvein, adaxially with slightly impressed midvein, lateral veins conspicuous, reticulate veins indistinct, base broadly cuneate, margin 3-7-spinose-serrate on each side, apex acuminate, aristate. Flowers 4-8-fascicled. Pedicels pale brownish yellow, 1.2-2 cm, glabrous. Sepals in 2 whorls; outer sepals ovate or ovate-elliptic, 2.1-3.2 × 1.1-2.2 mm; inner sepals elliptic, 6.5-7.2 × 4.2-5 mm. Petals obovate, 6-6.5 × 3-3.5 mm, base broadly cuneate, with separate glands, apex entire, sometimes slightly emarginate. Stamens ca. 5 mm; anther connective prolonged, rounded. Ovules 2 or 3, funiculate. Fruit stalk reddish brown; berry ellipsoid, 8-12 × 5-6 mm, pruinose, style ca. 1 mm. Fl. Apr-May, fr. Jul-Oct.