Shrubs, deciduous, to 3 m tall. Bark gray-brownish. Branchlets of current year yellow-whitish stellate-tomentose; branchlets of previous year gray-brownish, slightly rectangular or terete, glabrous, with dispersed, small, rounded lenticels. Winter buds naked, often rusty-brownish stellate-pubescent. Leaves always opposite, not clustered at apices of branchlets; stipules absent; petiole green, robust, 7-10(-15) mm, yellow-whitish stellate-tomentose; leaf blade greenish white when young, ovate-elliptic, broadly ovate, or suborbicular, 3-6(-8) × 2-4.5 cm, papery, abaxially stellate-pubescent, adaxially sparsely stellate-pubescent at first, later almost glabrous, midvein raised abaxially, lateral veins 5-7-jugate, pinnate, arched, branched, anastomosing near margin, or some ending in teeth, raised abaxially, impressed adaxially, veinlets transverse, slightly raised on both surfaces, not lobed, base rounded, without glands, margin denticulate, apex obtuse or rounded, sometimes emarginate or slightly acute. Flowers appearing with leaves; inflorescence a compound umbel-like cyme, terminal, (4-)6-7(-8) cm in diam., to 9 cm at fruiting stage; rays whorled; first node of inflorescence with (3-)5 rays, 1-2 cm, dense, yellow-whitish stellate-tomentose, without large sterile radiant flowers; peduncle 1-1.5(-7) cm or very short; bracts caducous, leaflike, green, linear-lanceolate, stellate-pubescent; bracteoles linear. Flowers mostly on rays of 3rd order, not fragrant, sessile or shortly pedicellate. Calyx greenish; tube cylindric, 3.5-4 mm, glabrous or rarely stellate-tomentose; lobes ovate, very small, 0.5-1 mm, glabrous or with few stellate ciliate hairs, apex obtuse. Corolla white, rotate, ca. 6 mm in diam., glabrous; tube ca. 1 mm; lobes spreading, orbicular-ovate, ca. 2 mm, longer than tube, apex rounded, margin entire. Stamens ca. as long as or slightly longer than corolla, inserted near base of corolla tube; filaments ca. 2 mm; anthers yellow, globose, ca. 1 mm. Styles slightly exceeding or subequaling calyx lobes; stigmas capitate. Fruit initially turning red, maturing black, elliptic, ca. 8 mm, base rounded, apex rounded, glabrous; pyrenes ovoid-globose, 6-8 × 4-5 mm, dorsally raised and grooves absent, or indistinctly 2-grooved, ventrally 3-grooved, apex rounded. Fl. May-Jul, fr. Aug-Sep.
Home