Shrubs 1–2 m tall. Branchlets brown or reddish brown, terete, sparsely tomentose when young, with sparse prickles, without stalked glands. Leaves imparipinnate, 5–7-foliolate, rarely 3-foliolate; petiole 3–6 cm, petiolule of terminal leaflet ca. 1 cm, petiolule and rachis tomentose, with sparse, minute prickles, without glandular hairs; stipules linear, pubescent; blade of leaflets narrowly ovate or elliptic, often ovate on terminal leaflet, 3–8 × 1.5–4.5 cm, abaxially densely tomentose, adaxially glabrous or pilose, base rounded, sometimes subcordate on terminal leaflet, margin unevenly coarsely serrate or doubly serrate, sometimes lobed on terminal leaflet, apex shortly acuminate. Inflorescences terminal, short racemes, rarely several flowers in clusters in leaf axils; rachis, pedicels, and abaxial surface of calyx densely tomentose, with dense or sparse, needle-like prickles, without glandular hairs; bracts linear, soft hairy. Pedicel 1–2 cm. Flowers 1–1.5 cm in diam. Sepals erect, ovate-lanceolate, margin gray tomentose, apex caudate. Petals white, spatulate, puberulous or glabrous, base broadly clawed. Stamens many, shorter than petals; filaments broadened and flattened. Pistils shorter than stamens; ovary and base of style densely gray tomentose. Aggregate fruit red or orange, subglobose, 1–1.4 cm in diam. densely shortly tomentose; pyrenes prominently pitted. 2n = 14*.

The fruit are eaten raw and are used for making jam, jelly, juice, wine, and vinegar. The dried fruit are used in medicine. The stems and roots are a source of tannin.

Forests, forest margins, thickets, valleys, slopes, meadows, roadsides, waste places; 500--2500 m. Hebei, S Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Shanxi, Xinjiang [Japan, Russia; Europe, North America].