Rhamnus globosa Bunge var. ziziphifolia Tang; R. oiwakensis Hayata; R. parvifolia var. tumetica (Grubov) N. W. Ma; R. pianensis Kanehira; R. polymorpha Turczaninow; R. tumetica Grubov.

Shrubs dioecious, 1.5-2 m tall, spinose, much branched. Branchlets opposite or subopposite, purple-brown, puberulent when young, later glabrescent, slightly shiny, silvery-gray, terminating in a spine; buds ovoid, ca. 2 mm, scales few, yellow-brown. Leaves opposite or subopposite, rarely alternate, or fascicled on short shoots; stipules subulate, puberulent; petiole 4-15 mm, adaxially puberulent; leaf blade abaxially greenish, gray-white when dry, adaxially dark green, rhombic-obovate or rhombic-elliptic, rarely obovate-orbicular or suborbicular, 1.2-4 × 0.8-2(-3) cm, papery, abaxially glabrous or sparsely puberulent in areoles of vein axils, adaxially glabrous or sparsely pubescent, lateral veins 2-4 pairs, prominent on both surfaces, base cuneate or subrounded, margin crenate-dentate, apex obtuse or subrounded, rarely acute. Flowers yellow-green, unisexual, 4-merous, usually few clustered on short shoots. Pedicels 4-6 mm, glabrous. Female flowers: style 2-cleft to half. Drupe nearly dry, black at maturity, obovoid-globose, 4-5 mm in diam., with 2 stones, with persistent calyx tube at base. Seeds brown, oblong-obovoid, abaxially with a yellow margined lateral furrow extending over 4/5 of length. Fl. Apr-May, fr. Jun-Sep.

This species is variable in leaf shape and closely related to Rhamnus tangutica, but the latter differs in having leaves usually elliptic or obovate-elliptic, abaxially turning yellow when dry, and branchlets glabrous, shiny.

Thickets, grasslands, stony slopes, on open shiny rocks; 400-2300 m. Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Shandong, Taiwan [Korea, Mongolia, Russia (E Siberia)].