Shrub erect, 1 (-2) m tall, deciduous or evergreen, glabrous. Branches green, angular. Leaves alternate, very variable in size, 2-10 cm long, sometimes revolute; leaflets 3-5(-7), coriaceous, dark green above, paler beneath, variable in shape, elliptic, ovate, or lanceolate, acute or obtuse, terminal sometimes larger than lateral. Flowers in terminal corymbose cymes; pedicels 5-15 mm long. Bracts linear, minute. Calyx tube c. 3 mm long, teeth very short. Corolla yellow, tube 1-2.5 cm long, lobes 5, broadly ovate-obtuse or round, reflexed when the flower is open. Berry simple or didymous, globular-ellipsoid, 4-6 mm long, black when ripe, full of crimson juice.
Fl. Per: April-June. Fruit: September-December.
Type: Herb. Linn. no. 17.6 (LINN).
Distribution: Himalaya and Hindukush, from Afghanistan to Western China. Northern regions of Pakistan, South Waziristan, Baluchistan, in temperate forests, 1000-3000 m, common. Sometimes cultivated.
With Jasminum officinale, often in the same locality. Eaten by grazing animals.
