Shrubs or small trees, to 5 m tall. Bark light brown. Branchlets of current year yellow-whitish or pale brown, glabrous; branchlets of previous year gray-brownish, terete, glabrous, with dispersed, small, rounded lenticels. Winter buds ovoid-lanceolate, with 2 pairs of separate scales; scales glabrous. Leaves always opposite, not clustered at apices of branchlets; stipules absent; petiole green, robust, ca. 1 cm, sparsely stellate-pubescent, later subglabrous; leaf blade green when young, becoming intense green and lustrous adaxially, oblong or oblong-lanceolate, or elliptic to obovate, 5-10(-13) × 3-4.5 cm, papery, very rarely subleathery, abaxially glabrous or very sparsely stellate-pubescent on veins, midvein raised abaxially, lateral veins 4-6-jugate, pinnate, slightly arched, rarely branched, mostly ending in teeth, raised abaxially, impressed adaxially, veinlets transverse, slightly raised abaxially, inconspicuous adaxially, not lobed, base rounded to broadly cuneate, without glands, margin remotely serrate except at base, apex acute. Flowers appearing after leaves; inflorescence paniculate, corymblike due to shortening of inflorescence axis, at apices of short branchlets with 1 pair of leaves, (1.5-)3-4 × (3-)4-5.5 (-6) cm; rays opposite, decussate; first node of inflorescence with 2 rays, lax, sparsely stellate-pubescent, without large sterile radiant flowers; peduncles 2-4.5 cm; bracts persistent, leaflike, greenish, lanceolate, sparsely hairy; bracteoles scalelike. Flowers on rays of 3rd order, not fragrant, long pedicellate. Calyx green; tube tubular, ca. 2 mm, glabrous or subglabrous; lobes narrowly ovate, ca. 2 mm, glabrous, apex obtuse. Corolla white, rotate, ca. 8 mm in diam., glabrous; tube less than 1 mm; lobes spreading, oblong-orbicular, ca. 3 mm, apex rounded, margin entire. Stamens shorter than corolla, inserted at apex of corolla tube; filaments ca. 1.5 mm; anthers yellow-whitish, ellipsoid, ca. 1 mm. Styles exceeding calyx lobes; stigmas capitate. Fruit maturing red, ellipsoid, 7-8(-10) × 5-6 mm, base rounded, apex rounded, glabrous; pyrenes obovoid or obovoid-oblong, ca. 6 × 4 mm, with a deep ventral groove, apex rounded. Fl. Apr-May, fr. Jun-Jul.

● Forests, scrub; 1000-2400 m. N Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, SW Jiangxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, S Zhejiang.