Shrubs or small trees, to 5 m tall; young branches with gray-brown hairs, older growth drying brown or gray-brown, glabrous, sparsely lenticellate; buds minute, naked, stellately pubescent. Petiole 4–10 mm; leaf blade obovate or obovate-elliptic, 7–16 × 4–10 cm, membranous, drying discolorous, abaxially villous, adaxially pubescent along midrib, base rounded or obtuse, margin dentate, apex acute; lateral veins 6–10 on each side. Inflorescences 4–8 cm; peduncle 1–1.5 cm, tomen tose; bracts and bracteoles lanceolate, 1.5- 2 mm, stellately pubescent. Pedicel 1–2 mm, stellately pubescent. Floral cup 0.8–1 mm, glabrous; sepals lanceolate, 1.2–1.5 mm. Petals narrowly lanceolate, shorter than sepals. Anthers 0.8–1 mm. Ovary sparsely pubescent; styles 1.5–2.5 mm. Fruiting pedicels 5–10 mm; capsules ovoid-globose, 12–15 mm, glabrous, white lenticellate, apex acute, dehiscing loculicidally by two 2-lobed valves. Seeds 8–10 × 5–6 mm. Fl. Mar–Apr, fr. May–Jun.

Forests; 800--1000 m. Anhui, Henan, Hubei, Jiangxi, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Zhejiang.