Shrubs 1-3 m tall. Branchlets of previous year yellow-brown, those of current year brown, glabrous or sparsely pubescent. Petiole 0.8-1.2 cm; leaf blade elliptic, elliptic-lanceolate, or rarely ovate-elliptic, 3-11 × 1.5-5 cm, papery, abaxially villous only along veins, adaxially sparsely strigose or glabrous, veins 3-5, basifugal, base cuneate or broadly so, margin serrate or coarsely 9-12-dentate, apex acuminate. Inflorescences racemose or paniculate; 3-15(-30)-flowered; rachis 5-15 cm; pedicels 0.6-1.4 cm, strigose. Calyx tube sparsely strigose; lobes ovate, 6-7 × 3-3.5 mm, apex acuminate, acumen ca. 1.5 mm. Corolla discoid; petals white, obovate or oblong, 1.2-1.5 × 0.8-1 cm, apex rounded, sometimes erose. Stamens 30-35, longest ones ca. 7 mm; anthers oblong, ca. 1.5 mm. Disc and style glabrous or sparsely white villous-setose. Style apically slightly divided, ca. 6 mm; stigma spatulate or oar-shaped, 1.5-2 mm. Capsule obovoid, ca. 7 × 5 mm. Seeds 3-3.5 mm, shortly tailed. Fl. May-Jun, fr. Aug-Sep.

* Mixed forests, thickets, mountain slopes; 300-3000 m. Anhui, ?Fujian, Gansu, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, ?Zhejiang.