Shrubs 1–2 m tall. Branchlets purple-brown to brownish, lustrous, robust, conspicuously angled, glabrous or sparsely pubescent when young, later glabrescent; buds ovoid, 5–6 mm, with several brown scales, sparsely pubescent when young, apex acuminate or acute. Petiole 2–5 mm, pubescent initially, later glabrescent; leaf blade pale green abaxially, dark green adaxially, ovate, elliptic-ovate, or elliptic-oblong, 1.5–8 × 1.0–3.5 cm, pubescent abaxially, glabrous adaxially, rarely sparsely pubescent on veins, base broadly cuneate, margin irregularly doubly or singly serrate, apex acute or acuminate. Corymbs terminal on erect, long, leafy shoots of current year, compound, 5–8 × 6–10 cm, numerous flowered; rachis and pedicels glabrous; pedicels 4–7 mm; bracts lanceolate or linear, 4–7 mm, puberulous. Flowers 5–6 mm in diam. Hypanthium campanulate, glabrous abaxially. Sepals triangular, 1.5–2 mm, about as broad as long, reflexed in fruit, apex acute. Petals white, pinkish in bud, ovate, 2–4 × 2–2.5 mm, glabrous, apex obtuse. Stamens 25–30, longer than petals. Disk annular, with 8–10 unequal, emarginate lobes. Carpels pubescent; styles shorter than stamens. Follicles suberect, spreading, glabrous or pubescent only on adaxial suture; styles terminal, erect or slightly divergent. Fl. May–Jun, Fr. Aug–Sep.

Forests, forest margins, cliffs, slopes, rocky places; 100--2400 m. Anhui, Gansu, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hubei, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Liaoning, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Zhejiang.