Shrubs usually evergreen, climbing or scrambling, 1.5–6 m tall. Branchlets purple-brown; prickles sparse or scattered, curved, to 5 mm, stout, flat, gradually tapering to a broad base. Leaves including petiole 7–14 cm; stipules mostly adnate to petiole, free parts lanceolate, often glandular-pubescent; rachis and petiole glabrous, with a few hooked prickles; leaflets 5–9, ovate, elliptic, or ovate-oblong, 3–7(–11) × 1–3.5(–5) cm, leathery, both surfaces glabrous, abaxially with prominent midvein, adaxially shiny, rugose or not, base subrounded or broadly cuneate, margin acutely serrate, apex acuminate or long acuminate. Flowers numerous, in corymb, 3–4(–5) cm in diam.; pedicel 1.5–3.5 cm, sparsely pubescent, densely glandular-pubescent; bracts ovate-oblong, margin glandular-pubescent. Hypanthium ovoid or obovoid, sparsely pubescent and glandular-pubescent. Sepals 5, deciduous, lanceolate, 0.8–1.2 cm, both surfaces pubescent, abaxially intermixed with glandular hairs, margin entire or few pinnately lobed, apex long acuminate. Petals 5, fragrant, white or creamy-white, broadly obovate, abaxially sericeous, base broadly cuneate, apex erose. Styles connate into column, exserted, slightly longer than stamens, pubescent. Hip dark red, obovoid, 1–1.2 cm in diam., glabrous; sepals reflexed, deciduous at hip ripening. Fl. May–Jul, fr. Jul–Nov.

One of us (Robertson) would prefer not to recognize varieties in this species, and notes that the distinguishing characters given below are not those used by Rehder (Man. Cult. Trees, ed. 2, 447. 1940, as species).

Mixed evergreen forests, thickets, scrub, dry open areas; 400--2700 m. Guizhou Sichuan, Yunnan [N India].