Trees or shrubs 2-13 m tall. Bark gray; lenticels conspicuous on branches and branchlets. Petiole 3-4 mm; leaf blade oblong, 8.5-11 × 2.5-3 cm, base cuneate, margin finely denticulate, apex acute to shortly acuminate. Inflorescences dichasial cymes; peduncle ca. 5 mm, thick; bracts brown, obovate, small. Calyx lobes 7, triangular-ovate. Petals rose red, ovate, in 2 whorls, inner ones smaller than outer ones, adnate to calyx. Stamens 7 or 14, adnate to petals; anthers oblong, both ends obtuse. Style shorter than calyx; stigma platelike, shallowly 4-lobed. Fruit red, purplish red, or black, globose to ellipsoid, 8-13 × 8-9 mm. Fl. autumn-winter, fr. spring.