Trees, 5-15 m tall. Branchlets with white lenticels. Petiole 2-3 mm; leaf blade ovate to ovate-lanceolate, 3.5-7 × 1.5-3.5 cm, papery, base broadly cuneate to rounded, apex acuminate; secondary veins 3 or 4 on each side of midvein. Inflorescences 2-4 cm, 4- or 5-flowered; peduncle base without bud scales. Pedicel absent; bracteole 1, at base of flower. Calyx ellipsoid. Corolla white or pale yellow, urceolate; tube 6-7 mm, throat broader; lobes ± triangular, ca. 3 mm. Stamens (4 or)5. Disk pulvinate. Style 4-6 mm, shorter than or as long as corolla tube. Drupe purplish red, ellipsoid, 8-10 × ca. 7 mm. Fl. Mar-May, fr. May.

Forests; 1800-2100 m. S Xizang, W Yunnan [Bhutan, E India].