Shrubs, evergreen, to 2 m tall. Bark gray-brownish. Branchlets of current year glabrescent, yellowish brown or grayish white stellate-tomentose; branchlets of previous year red-brownish, terete, glabrous, with dispersed, small, rounded, lenticels. Winter buds naked, yellowish brown or grayish white stellate-tomentose. Leaves always opposite, not clustered at apices of branchlets; stipules absent; petiole green, robust, 5-10(-15) mm, gray-whitish or yellow-whitish stellate-tomentose; leaf blade greenish white when young, becoming intense green, lustrous, and glabrous, or dark green and sparsely stellate-hairy adaxially, ovate-oblong to ovate-lanceolate, 2-5(-8) × 1-2.5(-3.5) cm, leathery, abaxially veins sometimes with rusty stellate hairs, midvein raised abaxially, lateral veins 5-or 6-jugate, pinnate, arched, branched, anastomosing near margin, slightly raised abaxially, slightly raised or inconspicuous adaxially, veinlets transverse, inconspicuous on both surfaces, not lobed, base rounded or narrowed, without glands, margin entire or rarely inconspicuously dentate, slightly involute, apex rounded to slightly obtuse, sometimes emarginate. Flowers appearing after leaves; inflorescence a compound umbel-like cyme, terminal, 5-7 cm in diam.; rays whorled; first node of inflorescence with 5 rays, dense, gray-whitish or yellow-whitish stellate-tomentose, without large sterile radiant flowers; peduncle robust, 1-3 cm; bracts caducous, leaflike, green, linear to linear-lanceolate, stellate-pubescent; bracteoles linear. Flowers usually on rays of 2nd and 3rd orders, not fragrant, sessile. Calyx greenish; tube tubular, ca. 2 mm, glabrous; lobes ovate-triangular, very small, 0.5-1 mm, glabrous or with few stellate ciliate hairs, apex obtuse, slightly ciliate. Corolla white, reddish in bud, rotate, 6-7 mm in diam., glabrous; tube 2-3 mm; lobes spreading, orbicular-ovate, ca. 2 mm, ca. as long as or slightly longer than tube, apex rounded, margin entire. Stamens nearly as long as corolla lobes, inserted near base of corolla tube; filaments ca. 4 mm; anthers yellow, suborbicular, ca. 1 mm. Styles nearly as long as calyx lobes; stigmas capitate. Fruit initially turning red, maturing black, ellipsoid-oblong to ellipsoid, (6-)7-8 mm in diam., base rounded, apex rounded, glabrous; pyrenes slightly compressed, ellipsoid or obovoid, (5-)7 × (4-)5 mm, with 2 very shallow dorsal grooves and 3 ventral grooves, apex rounded. Fl. Mar-Apr, fr. Aug. 2n = 18*.
Home