Shrubs, evergreen, to 2 m tall. Bark gray-brownish. Branchlets of current year purple-brownish, densely or sparsely stellate-pubescent; branchlets of previous year gray-yellowish or gray-whitish, terete, glabrous, with conspicuously raised lenticels. Winter buds lanceolate, with 2 pairs of separate scales; scales glabrous. Leaves always opposite, not clustered at apices of branchlets; stipules absent; petiole green, robust, 6-10(-15) mm, stellate-pubescent; leaf blade green when young, becoming intense green and lustrous adaxially, oblong, oblong-lanceolate, or ovate-oblong, 5-9 × 2-3 cm, thickly papery or slightly leathery, abaxially stellate-pubescent in axils of veins, adaxially glabrous, midvein raised abaxially, lateral veins 5-or 6-jugate, pinnate, arched, branched, anastomosing near margin, conspicuously raised abaxially, impressed adaxially, veinlets transverse, slightly raised abaxially, inconspicuous adaxially, not lobed, base broadly cuneate or subrounded, without glands, margin serrate except at base, apex shortly acute or subrounded. Flowers appearing after leaves; inflorescence paniculate, terminal, ca. 3 × 2 cm; rays opposite, decussate; first node of inflorescence with 2 rays, few flowered, stellate-pubescent, without large sterile radiant flowers; peduncles ca. 2 cm, slender; bracts and bracteoles late deciduous, leaflike, greenish, linear-lanceolate, stellate pubescent. Flowers on rays of 1st and 2nd orders, not fragrant; pedicels 3-4 mm. Calyx reddish; tube tubular-campanulate, ca. 2 mm, glabrous or sparsely stellate-pubescent; lobes triangular, ca. 1 mm, with few stellate ciliate hairs, apex obtuse. Corolla white, funnelform, ca. 6 mm in diam., glabrous; tube 5-9 mm; lobes spreading, ovate to suborbicular, 2-3 mm, apex rounded, margin entire. Stamens shorter than corolla, inserted at apex of corolla tube; filaments very short; anthers yellow-whitish, oblong, ca. 1 mm. Styles long, slender, obviously exceeding calyx lobes; stigmas capitate. Fruit maturing red, ovoid-ellipsoid, 7-9 × ca. 6 mm, base rounded, apex rounded, glabrous; pyrenes compressed, ellipsoid, ca. 7 × 5 mm, with a deep ventral groove, apex rounded. Fl. Mar-Apr, fr. Sep-Nov.
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