Large shrub or small tree up to 3 m tall. Branches sparsely pubescent, with an ash coloured bark. Leaves imparipinnate; leaflets glabrous, 5-7, 15-50 x 10-22 mm, elliptic, oblique; apex drawn out, obtuse, sometimes notched; margin undulate. Flowers fragrant, white, in 3-flowered cymes. Sepals c. 3 mm, pubescent, lobes triangular, obtuse apically. Petals 12-15 mm, oblong to lanceolate, sparsely pubescent, glandular. Ovary 2(-5)-locular, elongate; stigma lobed. Berry ovoid, 7-13 x 6-8 mm, beaked at the top, deep orange to red when ripe.

Fl. Per.: March-Sept.

Type: Described from India.

Distribution: Sub-himalayan tracts of India-Pakistan, China, and the Pacific Islands.

The ‘china box’ is often cultivated for its fragrant flowers and red berries. It is found in Billawar and the foothills of Jammu and E. Kashmir.