Shrub 0.1–1(–2) m tall or shrublet with woody rootstock; bark brown becoming vertically striate; branches virgate, yellowish white, densely pustulose-lenticellate. Leaves ± thin, elliptic to oblong-elliptic or oblanceolate, 4.4–9(–11) cm long, (1–)1.5–2.1(–2.9) cm wide, acute to subacuminate at the apex, cuneate at the base, margin densely serrulate with straight or incurved teeth; lateral veins and very densely reticulate tertiary venation prominent above, less so beneath; petiole 2–4 mm long; stipules oblong-lanceolate, naviculate, 5–7 mm long, sometimes somewhat persistent. Flowers ± precocious, (2–)3–6 in very short racemiform or pseudoumbellate axillary inflorescences; pedicels 0.9–1.2 cm long, jointed at the base, sometimes obscurely muriculate. Sepals oblong-elliptic, 4–5(–7) mm long, 3–4 mm wide, rounded, becoming red in fruit and 8–11 mm long, 5–7 mm wide. Petals bright yellow, broadly elliptic or ± round, 7–10 mm long, 3–4(–8 annot. by Robson) mm wide. Anthers 1–1.5 mm long, 1/3–1/2 as long as the filaments, dehiscing by longitudinal slits. Carpels 5, the styles completely united; stigma 5-lobed. Drupelets subglobose, 6–8 mm long, 5–6.5 mm wide.