Shrubs, scandent, 2-5 m tall. Older twigs cylindric, nearly glabrous, internode 1-4 cm; twigs light gray to light green, straight and not bent, with ridge angle when young, pale yellow pubescent. Stipular spines firm, flat or recurved, 2-5 mm, on flower twigs small or absent, apex often dark black. Petiole 4-6(-10) mm, trichomes like those on twigs; leaf blade oblong, oblong-lanceolate, or sometimes ovate, 5-10(-12) × 1.5-4 cm, nearly leathery, abaxially orangish red when young but reddish brown when dry, adaxially pale green when dry, glabrous or when young midvein on both surfaces apically sparsely shortly pubescent but glabrescent, midvein abaxially raised and adaxially impressed, secondary veins 7-10(-12) on each side of midvein and inconspicuous, base cuneate to broadly cuneate, apex often acuminate and shortly mucronate. Inflorescences axillary and subumbellate or axillary and terminal thus forming a panicle, to 11-flowered; peduncle 1-3 cm, trichomes like those on twigs; bracts early falling, subulate, 1-2 mm; bractlets small, sometimes absent. Flowers fragrant or not. Pedicel 7-12 mm. Sepals 4-5 × ca. 3 mm; sepals of outer whorl navicular, outside shortly pubescent particularly near base, inside glabrous, margin membranous and glabrous; sepals of inner whorl elliptic to obovate, slightly smaller, margin white, membranous, and with white cilia. Petals white, obovate to oblong, 4-6 × 1.5-2.5 mm, inside basal and central parts white pubescent. Stamens 20-45; filaments white when fresh but red when dry, 0.8-1.5 cm; anthers 0.7-0.8 mm. Gynophore 6-8(-12) mm, glabrous; ovary nearly ellipsoid, ca. 1.5 × 1 mm, glabrous; placentae 2. Fruit spheroid to ellipsoid, 1-1.5 cm in diam., smooth; pericarp thin, leathery. Seeds 1 to several per fruit, globose or nearly ellipsoid, 6-7 mm. Fl. and fr. almost all year.
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Slack climber, 3-20 m. Twigs almost straight, angular and puberulous when young, terete and glabrescent when older; internodes c. 1.5-4 cm. Thorns patent to recurved, 2-5 mm long, especially on flowering branches minute or wanting. Leaves subcoriaceous, oblong to lanceolate, (2.3-)2¼-4(-5) times as long as wide, sometimes ovate, rarely obovate, above glabrous, beneath sparsely puberulous but soon glabrescent, young leaves salmon-reddish, (4-)5.5-10.5 by (1.5-)2-3.5(-4) cm; base obtuse to acutish, top narrowed, acuminate, tip often blunt, sometimes slender and acutish, mucronate; midrib above sulcate all over; nerves inconspicuous, 6-9(-11) pairs; petiole 5-6(-10) mm, hairy as the twig. Flowers sometimes fragrant, in axillary subumbels which are often arranged in a terminal panicle c. 15-20 cm long, each a few cm peduncled, sparsely hairy. Pedicels slender, 0.5-1 cm. Bracts subulate, 1-2 mm long, caducous; bracteoles basal, minute, sometimes wanting. Buds globular, 4-5 mm diam. Outer sepals 4.5-6(-1) mm diam., sometimes sparsely puberulous at the base outside, inner sepals elliptic to obovate, 5-7(-8) by 4-6 mm, with membranous, ciliate margin. Petals white (sometimes greenish or pinkish?), (3.5-)5-6.5 hy 2-3(-4) mm, mostly obovate, pubescent. Stamens 20-45, 15-25(-32) mm long, filaments white. Gynophore 4-12 mm, ovary approximately ellipsoid, 1½ by 1 mm, both glabrous. Fruit globular to ellipsoid, 1-1.5 cm diam., pericarp thin, leathery, smooth. Seeds one to few, globular and 5-6 mm to elliptic and 10 by 7 by 5 mm.
Forests and forest edges, frequently in the shade, seems to prefer moist places. Fl. fr. Jan-Dec.In the Himalaya, Sumatra, and Java it is found between (700-)1200 and 1750(-2000) m. In Hong Kong and vicinity it occurs near sea-level, and the same is probably the case in the Philippines and the Sula Is.
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