Shrubs or small trees, deciduous, to 10 m tall. Bark gray-brownish. Branchlets of current year yellow-brownish lepidote or furfuraceous stellate-pubescent; branchlets of previous year red-brownish or gray-brownish, terete, glabrous, with dispersed, small, rounded lenticels. Winter buds naked, furfuraceous stellate-pubescent. Leaves often clustered at apices of branchlets; stipules 2, subulate, 2-9 mm, bases often adnate to petioles, sometimes absent; petiole green, robust, 1.5-3(-4.5) cm, yellow-brownish stellate-pubescent; leaf blade greenish brown when young, ovate to elliptic-ovate or orbicular-ovate, 6-13 (-15) × 3-9(-11) cm, papery, abaxially yellow-brownish lepidote or furfuraceous stellate-pubescent particularly along veins, adaxially glabrous or stellate-pubescent on veins, midvein raised abaxially, lateral veins 6-8-jugate, pinnate, arched, branched, anastomosing near margin, raised abaxially, slightly impressed adaxially, veinlets transverse, conspicuous on both surfaces, not lobed, base rounded, rarely shallowly cordate, without glands, margin irregularly serrate, apex acuminate or acute. Flowers appearing with leaves; inflorescence a compound umbel-like cyme, terminal, 5-9 cm in diam.; rays whorled; first node of inflorescence usually with 5 rays, dense, subglabrescent or yellow-brownish lepidote or furfuraceous stellate-pubescent, with large white sterile radiant flowers on margin; peduncles absent; bracts caducous, leaflike, green, ovate to elliptic, stellate-pubescent; bracteoles scalelike. Flowers on rays of 3rd order, fragrant, subsessile or shortly pedicellate. Sterile flowers: calyx like fertile flowers, 2.5-3 cm in diam.; corolla lobes obovate, often unequal in size; stamens and pistils not developed. Fertile flowers: calyx greenish; tube subglobose, ca. 2 mm, glabrous; lobes ovate-orbicular, very small, 0.5-1 mm, sparsely stellate-pubescent, apex obtuse; corolla white or reddish, rotate, 5-6 mm in diam., glabrous; tube ca. 2 mm; lobes spreading, ovate, ca. 2 × as long as tube, apex rounded, margin entire; stamens shorter than corolla, inserted near base of corolla tube; filaments ca. 1 mm; anthers yellow, ovoid, ca. 1 mm; styles not exceeding calyx lobes; stigmas capitate. Fruit initially turning yellow, then red, maturing purple-nigrescent, ovoid, 8-9 mm, base rounded, apex rounded, glabrous; pyrenes slightly compressed, oblong, ca. 7 × 5 mm, with 1 shallow dorsal groove and 1 deep ventral groove, apex rounded. Fl. Apr-May, fr. Aug-Sep.
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