Evergreen woody climbers to 20 m, ramose. Branchlets scabrous, hairy when young, later glabrous. Petiole 1-1.5 cm, pubescent; leaf blade orbicular, 4-12 × 2-5 cm, leathery, very scabrous, setose when young, later abaxial surface glabrous or only veins pubescent, with protuberance, secondary veins 10-15, obviously prominent on abaxial surface, base broadly cuneate or approximately rounded, usually oblique, margin entire or finely serrate distally, apex obtuse or rounded, sometimes slightly acute. Panicles terminal, 6-25 cm, many flowered; peduncle pubescent, zigzag. Flowers 6-8 mm in diam. Sepals 5, free, broadly ovate, 4-5 mm, unequal, persistent in fruit, apex obtuse, glabrous or occasionally sparsely hairy, ciliate. Petals 3, white, ovate, as long as sepals. Stamens numerous, shorter than sepals. Carpels 1(or 2), glabrous; style longer than stamens. Follicles ca. 1 cm, orange, pericarp thinly leathery and slightly bright when dry, with persistent style. Seed 1, black; aril yellow, fringed, enclosing base of seeds. Fl. Apr-May.
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Small shrub (to 3 m) or liana (to 12 m) with scabrid branches. Leaves oblong, 6-12 by 3-5 ½ cm, scabrid. Petiole 5-10 mm. Inflorescence terminal, 30-150-flowered, in the basal part often with 1-4 leaves, 10-25 by 5-15 cm; branches scabrid. Flower ca 8-10 mm diam. Sepals 5, the outer two 2 by 1½ mm, the inner three 4 by 3 mm, scabrid outside. Petals 3. Stamens 3-4 mm long; Anthercells slightly separated at the apex. Carpels with ca 10-12 ovules. Capsule ovoid, ca 6-10 by 4-6 mm with a 2-5 mm long beak, 1(-2)-seeded. Seeds 4 by 3 mm. Aril 5 mm long, fimbriate for ½-⅔ of its length.
Sparse forests, thickets and barren hills. Scrub along roadsides, hedges, thickets as well as primary forest, at elevations from sea-level to 1,500 metres.
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