Shrubs 1–3 m tall. Branchlets brown, purplish brown, or grayish brown, slightly angular, with broad purplish brown prickles, densely tomentose, with intermixed 1–2 mm glandular hairs or not. Leaves imparipinnate, 5–7-foliolate, rarely at base of inflorescence reduced to 3-foliolate; petiole 3–5 cm, petiolule of terminal leaflet 1–2 cm, lateral leaflets subsessile, petiolule and rachis densely tomentose, with intermixed short glandular hairs, rarely glandular hairs absent, usually with sparse prickles; stipules linear, 5–9 × 1.5–2.5 mm, pubescent, with intermixed sparse, short glandular hairs; blade of leaflets 3–7 × 2–4 cm, terminal one elliptic to ovate-lanceolate, rarely ovate, lateral leaflets obliquely elliptic to ovate-lanceolate, abaxially densely gray tomentose, adaxially pilose, base cuneate to rounded, margin irregularly coarsely simple-serrate, apex acute to shortly acuminate. Inflorescences terminal or axillary, subracemes or narrow cymose panicles, many flowered, 5–10 cm; rachis and pedicels tomentose, rarely with sparse, short glandular hairs; bracts linear, 4–6 mm, pubescent, rarely with sparse, glandular hairs. Pedicel 7–12 mm. Flowers 1–1.5 cm in diam. Calyx abaxially densely tomentose, sometimes with shortly stalked glands; sepals erect, ovate, 5–7 mm, gray tomentose at margin, apex acute. Petals purple, suborbicular, 4–6 mm in diam., slightly shorter than sepals, base shortly clawed, margin premorse. Stamens many in 1 whorl; filaments shorter than petals, basally broad and compressed. Pistils many, nearly as long as stamens; ovary soft hairy; styles glabrous. Aggregate fruit red, semiglobose or subglobose, ca. 1 cm in diam., glabrous or sparsely soft hairy; pyrenes rugose, minutely punctate. Fl. May–Jun, fr. Jul–Aug.

Montane valleys, stream sides, mountain slopes; 1000--2600 m. Fujian, Gansu, Guangxi, Guizhou, Henan, Jiangxi, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Xizang, Yunnan.