Shrubs, evergreen, 1-2.5 m tall. Branches dark gray, angulate, not verruculose; shoots purplish red, glabrous; spines 3-fid, pale yellow, 1-1.5 cm, sometimes absent. Petiole 2-6 mm; leaf blade abaxially pale green or reddish brown, adaxially deep green, lanceolate, elliptic-lanceolate, or obovate-lanceolate, 3-13 × 1-2.2 cm, leathery, both surfaces not pruinose, abaxially with conspicuously raised midvein and lateral veins, adaxially with impressed midvein, lateral veins slightly raised, both surfaces with slightly visible reticulate veins, base attenuate, margin slightly revolute when dry, 10-20-spinose-serrate on each side, apex subacuminate. Flowers 5-30-fascicled. Pedicels purplish red, 1-2.5 cm. Petals longer than outer sepals. Ovules 1-3. Berry black, ovoid, 7-9 × 4-5 mm, not pruinose; style persistent, short. Seeds 1-3. Fl. Mar-May, fr. May-Sep.