Trees, deciduous, to 8 m tall. Bark light brown. Branchlets of current year gray-brownish, glabrous, with dispersed lenticels; branchlets of previous year brownish, terete, glabrous, with dispersed, small, rounded lenticels. Winter buds ovoid-oblong, with 2 pairs of separate scales; scales yellow-brownish, glabrous, apex acute. Leaves always opposite, not clustered at apices of branchlets; stipules absent; petiole green or reddish, robust, 2.5-5 cm, glabrous; leaf blade purplish green when young, oblong-elliptic or rhombic-elliptic to oblong, sometimes ovate-orbicular, 14-20 × 6-10 cm, papery, abaxially stellate-pubescent in axils of veins, adaxially glabrous and lustrous, midvein raised abaxially, lateral veins 7-or 8-jugate, pinnate, arched, rarely branched, anastomosing near margin, conspicuously raised abaxially, impressed adaxially, veinlets transverse, conspicuous abaxially, inconspicuous adaxially, not lobed, base cuneate to subtruncate, without glands, margin remotely serrate except at base, apex shortly acuminate. Flowers appearing with leaves; inflorescence paniculate, pyramidal, 4-20 × 4-7 cm; rays opposite, decussate; first node of inflorescence with 2 rays, lax, densely gray-yellowish stellate-pubescent, without large sterile radiant flowers; peduncles 4.5-6 cm; bracts caducous, leaflike, greenish, linear to linear-lanceolate, glabrous; bracteoles scalelike. Flowers on rays from 1st to 4th orders, not fragrant, shortly pedicellate. Calyx green; tube tubular, ca. 2 mm, glabrous; lobes ovate or ovate-triangular, ca. 1/4 as long as calyx tube, glabrous, apex rounded or obtuse. Corolla ?funnelform, unknown. Fruit initially turning red, maturing purple-reddish, slightly compressed, ca. 7 mm, base rounded, apex rounded, glabrous; pyrenes obovoid, ca. 6 mm, with a deep ventral groove, apex rounded. Fl. May, fr. Sep.
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