Shrub, small tree or rhizomatous subshrub, 0.05–5(–9) m tall; bark pale grey or brown, smooth or rather rough and fissured; branches rather thick. Leaves coriaceous, obovate to oblanceolate or oblong, (3.5–)5.5–22.5 cm long, (1.5–)2–8.4 cm wide, obtuse to broadly rounded at the apex, less often subacute with a short mucro, cuneate to subtruncate at the base, margin densely serrulate; lateral veins 20–25, prominent on both surfaces; tertiary venation finely reticulate, more prominent above than beneath; petiole ± stout, 1.5–8 mm long. Flowers numerous in branched panicles terminating lateral shoots; pedicels 1.5–3 cm long, jointed 4–8 mm from base, the joints forming characteristic tufts when flowers have fallen. Sepals elliptic to oblong-elliptic, 9–11(–12.5) mm long, 5–8 mm wide, rounded at apex, becoming scarlet-red and slightly enlarging to 12–14 mm long in fruit. Petals bright yellow, obovate or almost round, 10–22 mm long, 7–19 mm wide. Anthers orange-yellow, 4–7 mm long, 3–5 times as long as the filaments, dehiscing by apical pores. Carpels (6–)8–10; styles united almost to apex, the free ends spreading; stigmas slightly enlarged. Drupelets black, subglobose or ovoid-cylindric, 8–10 mm long, 6–8 mm wide, inserted near the base.