Shrubs deciduous. Branchlets brownish to dark brown, tomentose-villous, gradually glabrescent, with sparse, slightly curved prickles. Leaves simple; petiole 2–4 cm, villous when young, glabrate in age, with sparse, curved small prickles; stipules caducous, free, 5–9 mm, deeply divided to base, lobes linear, villous; blade narrowly ovate, 7–10 × 4–6.5 cm, palmately 5-veined, lateral veins 4 or 5 pairs, thickly papery, abaxially densely gray tomentose, adaxially pilose along veins, base cordate, margin shallowly lobed, thinly sharply serrate, apex acuminate. Inflorescences often terminal, cymose panicles, 10–20 cm; rachis and pedicels yellowish sericeous-villous; bracts 5–7 mm, villous, divided above middle; lobes linear. Pedicel 3–6 mm, with sparse, glandular hairs. Flowers ca. 1 cm in diam. Calyx densely yellowish sericeous-villous, sometimes with sparse, intermixed glandular hairs; sepals ovate, 5–6 × 2.5–4 mm, puberulous, margin entire, apex long acuminate. Petals much shorter than sepals or absent. Stamens many, shorter than sepals; filaments linear. Pistils not more than 20, shorter than stamens; style and ovary glabrous. Aggregate fruit black, subglobose, with few drupelets. Fl. May–Jun, fr. Jul–Aug.

Mountainous areas; 400--1200 m. Hubei.