Deciduous shrubs or small trees, 3-5 m tall; branches and twigs sturdy, striate, brown or gray-brown when dry. Petiole typically less than ca. 1 cm; leaf blade leathery, variously ovate-elliptic, 6-8 × 3-4 cm, base subrotund, cuneate, or attenuate, margin sharply and finely serrate, sometimes combined with fine crenulations, apex acuminate or acute; lateral veins 5-7 pairs, disappearing before reaching margin. Peduncle 5-7 cm, 1 or 2 × dichotomously branched with several to many flowers; pedicel 5-6 mm, less than ca. 6 mm in diam. Flowers 4-merous; sepals suborbicular, short; petals whitish green or greenish white, ovate, base cuneate. Ovary weakly angulate. Capsule green to brown, or yellow-brown when dry, nearly globose, less than 1 cm in diam., with 4 wide and sharp wings, more than ca. 8 mm when fully developed. Aril bright red. Fl. Apr-Jun, fr. Jul-Oct.
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