Shrubs ca. 2 m tall. Young branchlets dark brown after drying, slender, glabrous; old branchlets not lenticellate. Leaves clustered at branchlet apex, appearing opposite or verticillate; petiole slender, 7–15 mm, glabrous; leaf blade dark green but not shiny adaxially, oblong or obovate, 7–14 × 2.5–3.5(–4.5) cm, thinly membranous, glabrous abaxially, lateral veins 4- or 5-paired, slightly convex abaxially, slightly visible adaxially, reticulate veins indistinct on both surfaces, base cuneate, margin flat, apex acute or acuminate. Inflorescences terminal, umbellate, 3–13-flowered, without scalelike leaves at base; bracts deciduous; pedicels slender, 2–2.5 cm, sparsely puberulous. Sepals slightly connate at base, ovate-lanceolate, glabrous abaxially, margin ciliate, apex subacute. Petals connate into a tube proximally, ca. 1.3 cm. Stamens 8–9 mm. Pistil equaling stamens; ovary pubescent; ovary wall thin; placentas 2, parietal; ovules 8–12; stipe shorter than ovary; style 4–5 mm, glabrous. Capsule not seen. Fl. Mar–May, fr. Jun–Nov.

Forests, thickets, valleys; ca. 1800 m. W Yunnan (Longling Xian).