Prunus spinulosa Siebold & Zuccarini, Abh. Math.-Phys. Cl. Königl. Bayer. Akad. Wiss. 4(2): 122. 1845; P. balfourii Cardot; P. limbata Cardot; P. spinulosa Siebold & Zuccarini var. pubiflora Koehne; P. sundaica Miquel.

Trees to 20 m tall, rarely shrubs. Branchlets purplish brown to blackish brown, glabrous or puberulous when young, glabrescent. Winter buds dark brown, ovoid; scales hard, margin ciliate, apex tridentate. Petiole 5–10(–15) mm, glabrous; leaf blade oblong to obovate-oblong, 5–10 × 2–4.5 cm, herbaceous to thinly leathery, abaxially pale green and with 1 or 2 pairs of basal nectaries or on border of blade and petiole, both surfaces glabrous, adaxially bright green, base broadly cuneate to subrounded and often unequal, margin undulate and with a few acicular teeth apically from middle to near apex, apex acuminate to caudate; secondary veins 8–14 on either side of midvein, slightly prominent. Racemes axillary, solitary, 5–10 cm, 10–20-flowered or more; rachis thinly pubescent; bracts 2–3 mm, soon caducous, basal ones usually sterile, hard, dark, and more persistent. Flowers 3–5 mm in diam. Pedicel 1–4 mm, thinly pubescent. Hypanthium campanulate to cup-shaped, outside glabrous or puberulous. Sepals ovate-triangular, 1–2 mm, outside glabrous or puberulous, apex obtuse. Petals white, orbicular, 2–3 mm in diam., glabrous. Stamens 25–35, 4–5 mm; filaments glabrous. Ovary glabrous. Style slightly shorter than stamens. Drupe brown to blackish brown, ellipsoid, 8–11 × 6–8 mm, glabrous; endocarp thin, smooth. Fl. Sep–Oct, fr. Nov–Mar.

Sunny forested slopes, broad-leaved evergreen forests along rivers, mountain valleys; 400--1500 m. Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, Zhejiang [Japan].