Shrubs or small trees, deciduous, to 3 m tall. Bark light brown. Branchlets of current year reddish green, glabrous, with dispersed, gray lenticels; branchlets of previous year gray-brownish, terete, glabrous, with dispersed, small, rounded lenticels. Winter buds oblong, with 2 pairs of separate scales; scales reddish brown, stellate-pubescent, apex acute. Leaves always opposite, not clustered at apices of branchlets; stipules absent; petiole green or reddish, robust, 2-2.5 cm, sparsely stellate-pubescent or glabrous; leaf blade purplish green when young, broadly elliptic or oblong-elliptic, 8-12.5 cm, papery, abaxially stellate-pubescent on midvein and lateral veins, adaxially glabrous, midvein raised abaxially, lateral veins 6-or 7-jugate, pinnate, slightly arched, branched, ending in teeth, raised abaxially, impressed adaxially, veinlets transverse, slightly raised abaxially, slightly impressed adaxially, not lobed, base nearly broadly cuneate, without glands, margin conspicuously serrulate, apex obtuse or mucronate. Flowers appearing with leaves; inflorescence paniculate, at apices of short branchlets with 1-jugate leaves, ca. 5 × 5 cm; rays opposite, decussate; first node of inflorescence with 2 rays, lax, densely whitish stellate-pubescent or subglabrous, without large sterile radiant flowers; peduncles 3-4 cm, sparsely pubescent; bracts caducous, leaflike, green, ovate to elliptic, ciliate; bracteoles linear. Flowers on rays of 2nd and 3rd orders, not fragrant, shortly pedicellate. Calyx reddish; tube obconical, ca. 3 mm, usually glabrous, sometimes with few hairs; lobes ovate-triangular, very small, less than 1 mm, glabrous, apex acute. Corolla whitish, rotate-campanulate, ca. 6 mm in diam., glabrous; tube ca. 3 mm; lobes recurved, broadly ovate, 1.5-2 mm, apex rounded. Stamens obviously exceeding corolla tube, inserted at apex of corolla tube; filaments ca. 3 mm; anthers yellow, elliptic-oblong, ca. 1 mm. Styles exceeding calyx lobes; stigmas capitate. Fruit unknown. Fl. Jul.
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