Deciduous shrubs, 2-4(-5) m tall; branches terete, twigs 4-angled, green or brown when dry. Petiole sessile or very short, less than ca. 3 mm; leaf blade thinly leathery or thickly papery, obovate or elliptic-obovate, 6-11 × 2.5-4.5 cm, base cuneate or attenuate, margin crenulate, serrulate to serrate, even ciliate, apex acute, acuminate, or caudate; lateral veins 5-7 pairs, obscure to apparent adaxially, curving forward, netting and disappearing before reaching margin. Cymes single or clustered, axillary or terminal; peduncle slender, 2-3 cm, 1 or 2 × dichotomously branched with 3 flowers, rarely more than 3; pedicel slender, 5-7 mm. Flowers 4-merous, 7-8 mm in diam.; sepals suborbicular; petals green, light yellow, or greenish yellow, ovate, base attenuate. Capsule reddish brown when fresh, dark brown or gray when dry, 4-lobed, 1.3-1.5 cm in diam., sometimes only 2 or 3 lobes developing, lobes ovoid. Aril bright red. Fl. May-Jun, fr. Sep-Nov.
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