Shrubs or small trees, deciduous, to 6 m tall. Bark gray-brownish. Branchlets of current year brownish, yellow stellate-pubescent; branchlets of previous year black-brownish, terete, glabrous, with sparse, small, rounded lenticels. Winter buds lanceolate-triangular, with a pair of separate scales; scales yellow stellate-pubescent. Leaves in whorls of 3, or opposite on relatively slender branchlets; stipules 2, persistent, lanceolate, 4-5 mm, pubescent; petiole green, slender, 2-6 cm, stellate-pubescent; leaf blade green when young, ovate-elliptic or elliptic to oblong-obovate, sometimes obovate-lanceolate, 8-24 × 4-7(-9.5) cm, papery, abaxially stellate-pubescent and mixed with forklike or simple hairs only on midvein and lateral veins, adaxially usually sparsely forklike pubescent, more densely so on midvein, glabrescent, with large glandular spots on both sides of midvein at base, midvein raised abaxially, lateral veins 6-or 7-jugate, pinnate, arched, rarely branched, anastomosing near margin, conspicuously raised abaxially, slightly impressed adaxially, veinlets transverse, conspicuously raised abaxially, slightly impressed adaxially, not lobed, base cuneate, with 0 or 1 circular gland on both sides of midvein near base, margin entire or dentate at apex, apex acute or shortly acuminate. Flowers appearing after leaves; inflorescence a compound umbel-like cyme, terminal, 12-14(-18) cm in diam.; rays whorled; first node of inflorescence with 5-7(-10) rays, lax, sparsely stellate-pubescent, without large sterile radiant flowers; peduncles nearly absent; bracts caducous, greenish, linear-lanceolate, glabrous; bracteoles scalelike. Flowers on rays from 2nd to 6th orders, not fragrant, sessile or shortly pedicellate. Calyx greenish; tube obconical, ca. 1.8 mm, glabrous; lobes very small and inconspicuous, ciliate, apex rounded. Corolla white, rotate, ca. 3 mm in diam., glabrous; tube 1-1.5 mm; lobes spreading, suborbicular, ca. 1.3 mm, slightly shorter than tube, apex rounded, margin entire. Stamens much exceeding corolla, inserted near base of corolla; filaments folded in bud, ca. 6 mm; anthers yellow-whitish, broadly elliptic, ca. 1 mm. Styles slightly exceeding calyx lobes; stigmas capitate. Fruit maturing red, broadly ellipsoid-oblong, ca. 7 × 5 mm, base rounded, apex acute, glabrous; pyrenes compressed, broadly ellipsoid-oblong or ovoid, 5-6 × 3-4 mm, with 2 shallow dorsal grooves and 1 ventral groove, apex rounded. Fl. Jun-Jul, fr. Sep.
Home