Shrubs, evergreen, to 3 m tall. Bark gray-brownish. Branchlets of current year quadrangular, yellow-brown stellate-pubescent; branchlets of previous year purple-brownish or gray-brownish, slightly quadrangular, glabrous, with dispersed, small, rounded lenticels. Winter buds lanceolate, with 2 pairs of separate scales; scales yellow-brown stellate-pubescent. Leaves always opposite, not clustered at apices of branchlets; stipules absent; petiole reddish purple, slender, 3-6(-10) mm, yellow-brown stellate-pubescent; leaf blade yellowish green when young, oblong, broadly oblong-lanceolate, or elliptic, 3.5-7(-10) × 1.5-4 cm, subleathery, adaxially slightly shiny, both surfaces glabrous or stellate-pubescent on midvein and lateral veins, with black or castaneous-brown glandular dots, midvein raised abaxially, lateral veins 4-or 5-jugate, lowest pair elongating to upper part of blade, thus appearing triplinerved, pinnate, arched, rarely branched, anastomosing near margin, raised abaxially, impressed adaxially, veinlets subtransverse, conspicuous adaxially, inconspicuous adaxially, not lobed, base broadly cuneate or sometimes rounded, without glands, margin entire or remotely dentate above middle part, apex shortly acuminate or acute. Flowers appearing after leaves; inflorescence a compound umbel-like cyme, terminal, 2-4 cm in diam.; rays whorled; first node of inflorescence with (3 or)4 or 5 rays, ca. 1 cm, dense, yellow-brown stellate-pubescent, or mixed with forklike or simple hairs, without large sterile radiant flowers; peduncles 4-10 mm or nearly absent; bracts caducous, leaflike, green, linear-lanceolate, stellate pubescent; bracteoles scalelike. Flowers on rays of 2nd and 3rd orders, not fragrant, shortly pedicellate. Calyx green; tube obconical, ca. 1 mm, sparsely stellate-pubescent; lobes broadly ovate, very short, sparsely ciliate, apex obtuse, ciliate. Corolla white, rotate, ca. 4 mm in diam., glabrous; tube ca. 1 mm; lobes spreading, suborbicular, subequaling tube, apex rounded, margin entire. Stamens erect, exceeding corolla, inserted at base of corolla; filaments ca. 2 mm; anthers yellow-whitish, broadly elliptic, ca. 1 mm. Styles slightly exceeding calyx lobes; stigmas capitate. Fruit maturing red, compressed ovoid, ca. 6 mm in diam., base rounded, apex acute, glabrous; pyrenes compressed, orbicular, raised on dorsal side, deeply impressed on ventral side, apex rounded. Fl. Apr-Jul, fr. Aug-Dec.
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