Shrubs or trees, deciduous or evergreen, 1–4 m tall. Twigs glabrous or pubescent. Buds narrowly ovoid, (1–)3–9(–11.5) mm, glabrous. Petiole 4–9 mm, glabrous or pubescent; leaf blade ovate, narrowly to broadly elliptic, lanceolate, or suborbicular, 3–20 × 2–12 cm, papery to thinly leathery, both surfaces ± with white or brown hairs, rarely abaxially densely white villous on midvein or subglabrous, veins prominently raised to slightly depressed or nearly obscure, base obtuse, cuneate, or sometimes cordate, apex acuminate. Inflorescences 5–20 cm, pubescent; lower 1–3(or 4) bracts leaflike or not. Pedicel 2–10 mm, densely pubescent. Calyx lobes oblong or triangular, 2–6 mm, densely or sometimes sparsely pubescent. Corolla tubular, 8–11 mm, abaxially densely pubescent; lobes ca. 1 mm. Filaments 5–8 mm, pilose, with 2 spurs at apex. Ovary glabrous or pubescent. Capsule globose or ovoid, 3–5 mm in diam., with thick sutures or not, glabrous to densely pubescent. Fl. May–Jun, fr. Jul–Sep. 2n = 24*.

The leaf blade shape and indumentum are highly variable.

Forests, forest margins, thickets, mountains, open and dry slopes, near hot springs, ravines; 200–3400 m. Anhui, Fujian, S Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Xizang, Yunnan, Zhejiang [Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Sikkim, Thailand, Vietnam].