Shrubs, deciduous, 1-3 m tall. Shoots green; branches gray, sulcate, verruculose; spines 3-fid, pale yellow, 1-2 cm, stout. Leaves shortly petiolate; leaf blade abaxially pale green, adaxially dark green, oblong or obovate-oblong, 1.5-4 × 0.5-1.6 cm, papery, abaxially sometimes slightly pruinose, adaxially with raised lateral and reticulate veins, base cuneate, margin 2-14-spinose-serrate on each side, occasionally entire, apex slightly obtuse. Flowers 2-5-fascicled, occasionally solitary. Pedicels 1.2-2.2 cm. Sepals in 2 whorls; outer sepals subovate, ca. 8 × 5.5 mm; inner sepals elliptic, ca. 9 × 6 mm. Petals ovate-elliptic, 6-7 × 5-5.5 mm, base clawed, with separate glands, apex acute, incised. Stamens ca. 4.5 mm; anther connective truncate. Ovules 6-10. Berry red, ovoid-oblong, 1-1.2 cm × 6-7 mm, occasionally pruinose; style persistent, apex slightly bent. Fl. May-Jun, fr. Jul-Sep.