Shrubs or small trees, evergreen, to 6 m tall. Bark gray-brownish. Branchlets of current year brown, with rounded lenticels; branchlets of previous year gray-brownish or black, terete, glabrous, with dispersed, small, rounded lenticels. Winter buds oblong, with 2 pairs of separate scales; scales brownish, stellate-pubescent, apex acute. Leaves always opposite, not clustered at apices of branchlets; stipules absent; petiole purple-reddish, robust, 5-15 mm, stellate-pubescent or glabrous; leaf blade green when young, becoming intense green and lustrous adaxially, oblanceolate to linear-oblanceolate or obovate-oblong to oblong, rarely obovate, 5-10(-13) × (1.5-)2-3.5 cm, subleathery or leathery, very rarely thickly papery, both surfaces glabrous, midvein raised on both surfaces, particularly so adaxially, lateral veins 5-or 6-jugate, pinnate, arched, branched, anastomosing near margin, slightly conspicuous abaxially, slightly impressed adaxially, veinlets transverse, inconspicuous on both surfaces, not lobed, base cuneate to obtuse, rarely subrounded, without glands, margin remotely and shallowly serrate above 1/3-1/2 from base, apex abruptly narrowed and acuminate to long acuminate, shortly or long caudate. Flowers appearing after leaves; inflorescence paniculate, at apices of short branchlets with 1-jugate leaves, 2.5-4.5(-10) × 2-4 cm; rays opposite, decussate; first node of inflorescence with 2 rays, lax, glabrous, without large sterile radiant flowers; peduncles (1.2-)2.5-7 cm, slender and compressed, purple-reddish, sparsely yellow-brownish stellate-pubescent; bracts persistent, leaflike, purple-reddish, linear to linear-lanceolate, glabrous; bracteoles persistent, scalelike. Flowers on rays of 1st and 2nd orders, not fragrant, sessile. Calyx purple-reddish; tube tubular-obconical, ca. 2 mm, glabrous; lobes triangular-ovate, ca. 0.5 mm, glabrous, apex acute. Corolla white or reddish, funnelform, ca. 6 mm in diam., glabrous; tube 6-8 mm; lobes spreading, broadly ovate, ca. 2 mm, apex rounded, margin entire. Stamens shorter than corolla, inserted at apex of corolla tube; filaments very short; anthers purple-reddish, oblong, ca. 1.5 mm. Styles exceeding calyx lobes; stigmas capitate. Fruit initially turning red, maturing nigrescent, ellipsoid, 6-7 × 4-5 mm, base rounded, apex rounded, glabrous; pyrenes compressed, ellipsoid, ca. 6 × 4 mm, with 1 broad and deep ventral groove, apex rounded. Fl. Apr-Jun, fr. Jun-Aug.
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