Evergreen shrubs to small trees, 4-12 m tall; branches terete, twigs striate or sometimes 4-angled, green or brown when dry. Petiole sturdy, short, less than ca. 1 cm; leaf blade thickly leathery or leathery, elliptic or oblong-elliptic, 10-11.5 × 3(-4.5) cm, base cuneate or attenuate, adaxially ± farinose, margin long and sharply ciliate, apex acute or acuminate; lateral veins invisible, or sometimes in ca. 10 pairs, slightly curving forward, netting and disappearing before reaching margin. Cymes many, axillary or clustered; peduncle up to 4 cm, usually 1-3 × dichotomously branched with many flowers; pedicel short, less than ca. 5 mm. Flowers 5-merous, sometimes combined with 4-merous, 7-8 mm in diam.; sepals suborbicular; petals white. Capsule reddish brown when fresh, dark brown or gray when dry, 1.5-1.6 cm in diam., 4-or 5-lobed, lobes wide and thin, wing up to 7 × 5 mm. Seeds typically 1, dark brown; aril red. Fl. Apr-May, fr. Aug-Nov.
Shady localities in forests and valleys; at elevations from 2,400-2,700 metres. Woodlands and forests; at elevations from 1,600-3,200 metres in Tibet.
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