Vaccinium chapaense Merrill, J. Arnold Arbor. 19: 60. 1938, not Agapetes chapaensis Dop (1930).

Shrubs dwarf, 1–2 m tall. Twigs angled, 0.8–1.5 mm in diam., initially puberulous, rarely scattered setose. Leaves dense; petiole ca. 2 mm, glabrous or puberulous; leaf blade obovate, 0.8–1.6 × 0.5–1.2 cm, leathery, glabrous, secondary veins ca. 3 pairs, raised abaxially, impressed adaxially, base attenuate, cuneate, margin plane, crenulate above middle, apex obtuse or rounded. Inflorescences shortly racemose, from upper axils, ca. 2.5 cm, 1–5-flowered; bracts caducous, leaflike, greenish red, 1.3–1.5 × ca. 1.1 cm, glabrous. Pedicel 1–3.5 mm, glabrous, not expanded towards apex; bracteoles leaflike, 4–6 × ca. 2 mm. Calyx tube obconical, ca. 2.5 mm, glabrous; limb divided to base; lobes ovate-triangular, ca. 1.5 mm. Corolla white, greenish white, or pinkish, tubular, 0.7–1.7 cm, glabrous but tube hairy inside; lobes ca. 1 mm. Filaments 4–14 mm, woolly; anthers 2.5–4.5 mm, thecae papillate, tubules slightly longer than thecae, with 2 erect spurs. Berry green to purplish black, with a bloom, globose or ellipsoidal, 4–7(–10) mm in diam.; pedicel ca. 5 mm. Fl. Mar–Jun, fr. Oct–Dec.

Mossy forests, forest margins, bamboo thickets, open thickets, thickets on calcareous mountain summits, epiphytic on trees; 1000–2400(–3100) m. S Guangxi, SW Guizhou, SC Sichuan (Emei Shan), SE and WC Yunnan [Vietnam].