Shrubs or trees, evergreen, 1-12 m tall. Young branchlets terete, longitudinally ridged and sulcate, densely golden yellow villous; older branchlets densely ferruginous tomentose, with subcircular, raised leaf scars, lenticels absent. Petiole 2-6 mm, densely tomentose; leaf blade black-brown to brown when dry, oblong, oblong-lanceolate, ovate, ovate-lanceolate, or elliptic, (1-)2-4 × (0.4-)1-2.5 cm, thinly to thickly leathery, glabrous except on midvein adaxially, midvein abaxially flat or raised, glabrous, adaxially raised, densely pubescent, lateral veins obscure on both surfaces, base rounded or obtuse, margin crenulate-serrate or crenate-serrate, teeth often aristate, or margin entire or spinulose-serrate, apex rarely obtuse or subacute, acute and mucronate, or acuminate, spiny or not. Inflorescences: cymes, solitary, axillary to leaves or on scales of current year’s branchlets, pubescent. Male inflorescences: cymes of order (1 or)2, (1-)3-flowered; peduncles 8-14 mm; pedicels 2-4 mm; flowers 4(-6)-merous, white, or pink to red at high elevations; calyx patelliform, ca. 2 mm in diam., deeply 4-lobed, lobes deltoid, apex acute or obtuse, ciliate or not; petals ovate, ca. 2 × 1.5 mm, basally slightly connate, apex obtuse; stamens shorter than petals, anthers ovoid-globose; rudimentary ovary conical, apex obtuse. Female inflorescences: cymes of order 1(or 2), 1(-3)-flowered; pedicels 3-14 mm; bracteoles 1 or 2 on distal half; calyx and corolla as in male flowers; staminodes ca. 1/2 as long as petals, sterile anthers sagittate; ovary globose, ca. 1 mm in diam., longitudinally 4-sulcate, styles present, ca. 0.5 mm, stigma discoid, 4-lobed. Fruit red, globose, 5-6 mm in diam.; fruiting pedicel 5-15 mm, glabrous; persistent calyx explanate, quadrangular, ciliate or not; persistent stigma discoid, raised; pyrenes 4, oblong, ca. 5 mm, ca. 3 mm in diam., cross section subtriangular, abaxially smooth, not striate, not sulcate, endocarp leathery. Fl. May-Jul, fr. Aug-Nov.

Evergreen broad-leaved forests, Tsuga forests, mountain forests, sparse forests, margins of woods, thickets, shrub forests in valleys or on mountains; 1100-3500 m. S Gansu, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hubei, S Shaanxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, SE Xizang, Yunnan [N Myanmar].