Shrubs. Branches verticillate or dichotomous; bark brown or grayish, speckled with large lenticels. Leaves loosely crowded toward branchlet apex; petiole usually ca. 10 mm; leaf blade shining, broadly elliptic or ovate-elliptic, 6–10 × 2.5–4 cm, firm and thickly leathery, glabrous, margin entire, slightly recurved, apex subacute. Flowers not seen. Infructescences terminal, shortly thyrsoid, subtended loosely at the base by 3 or 4 leaves with subglobose dormant buds in axils; peduncle short and thick, 5–6 mm; pedicels short and thick, 4–5 mm. Capsule reddish brown, ellipsoid, slightly compressed, 2-valved, glabrous; pericarp reflexed after dehiscing, broadly elliptic, ca. 12 × 10 mm, ca. 1 mm thick, woody, smooth adaxially, not striate either side of placenta; placenta bulging into a ridge in middle of valves and there bearing 2 brown, knoblike funicles. Seeds 3 or 4 per capsule, shining pinkish black, 5–6 mm, smooth, covered with a light brown, thin, dry arilloid coat.

Described from Vietnam, this species was first reported from China by Wu (Index Fl. Yunnan. 1: 326. 1984). Gowda also described var. poilanei Gowda (J. Arnold Arbor. 32: 320. 1951) from Vietnam; it was distinguished from var. merrillianum only by having the leaf blade larger and oblong or elliptic-oblong.

Sparse forests; 1100--1900 m. SE Yunnan (Funing Xian, Pingbian Miaozu Zizhixian, Wenshan Xian) [Vietnam].