Shrubs or small trees, evergreen, to 4 m tall. Bark gray-brownish. Branchlets of current year robust, thickly yellow-whitish, yellow-brownish, or red-brownish stellate-tomentose; branchlets of previous year red-brownish or gray-blackish, terete, glabrous, with dispersed, small, rounded lenticels. Winter buds naked, yellow-brownish, or red-brownish stellate-tomentose. Leaves always opposite, not clustered at apices of branchlets; stipules absent; petiole green, robust, 1.5-3(-4) cm, thickly yellow-whitish, yellow-brownish, or red-brownish stellate-tomentose; leaf blade yellow-whitish, yellow-brownish, or red-brownish when young, becoming intense green adaxially, ovate-oblong to ovate-lanceolate, rarely lanceolate, 8-18(-25) × (1.5-)2.5-8 cm, leathery, abaxially strongly rugose, obviously reticulate, adaxially lustrous, sparsely stellate-pubescent when young, glabrescent, midvein raised abaxially, lateral veins 6-8(-12)-jugate, pinnate, arched, branched, anastomosing near margin, very rarely ending in teeth, raised abaxially, slightly raised adaxially, veinlets transverse, conspicuous abaxially, inconspicuous adaxially, not lobed, base rounded or slightly cordate, without glands, margin entire or inconspicuously dentate, apex slightly acute or obtuse. Flowers appearing after leaves; inflorescence a compound umbel-like cyme, terminal, 7-12 cm in diam.; rays whorled; first node of inflorescence usually with 7 rays, dense, yellow-whitish, yellow-brownish, or red-brownish stellate-tomentose, without large sterile radiant flowers; peduncle robust, 1.5-4(-7) cm; bracts caducous, leaflike, green, linear to linear-lanceolate, stellate-pubescent; bracteoles linear. Flowers on rays of 3rd order, not fragrant, subsessile or shortly pedicellate. Calyx greenish; tube tubular-campanulate, 2-3 mm, yellow-whitish stellate-tomentose; lobes broadly triangular-ovate, very small, 0.5-1 mm, sparsely stellate-pubescent, apex obtuse, slightly ciliate. Corolla white, pinkish in bud and outside, rotate, 5-7 mm in diam., subglabrous; tube 3-4 mm; lobes spreading, orbicular-ovate, 2-3 mm, apex rounded, margin entire. Stamens exceeding corolla, inserted near base of corolla tube; filaments ca. 6 mm; anthers yellow, broadly elliptic, ca. 1 mm. Styles slightly exceeding calyx lobes; stigmas capitate. Fruit initially turning red, maturing black, broadly elliptic, 6-8 mm, base rounded, apex rounded, glabrous or sparsely stellate-pubescent; pyrenes compressed, broadly elliptic, 6-7 × 4-5 mm, with 2 dorsal grooves and 3 ventral grooves, apex rounded. Fl. Apr-May, fr. Sep-Oct. 2n = 18*.
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