A spreading, sometimes scrambling, deciduous shrub or small tree commonly up to 8 m tall, branched from the base or with a clear bole to up to 4.5 m; branches drooping; crown often dense; bark smooth, furrowed or scaly, light yellowish-brown to dark grey.Twigs grey-brown, lenticellate.Young shoots and buds sparingly to densely fulvous- or ferrugineous-tomentose, or pubescent.Leaves stratified.Petioles 0.2–1 cm long, adaxially canaliculate, pubescent at least in the groove.Leaf blades 2–12(20) × 1–6(7) cm, elliptic-obovate to oblong-oblanceolate, rounded or obtuse at the apex, less often shortly acuminate, rounded or cuneate, rarely shallowly cordulate at the base, thickly chartaceous to thinly coriaceous, pubescent along the midrib but otherwise glabrous or almost so on upper surface, sparingly pubescent to densely fulvous- or ferrugineous-tomentose beneath, dark green and glossy above, paler and duller beneath; lateral nerves in 4–8(9) pairs, the lower camptodromous, the upper brochidodromous, somewhat impressed above, prominent beneath, reticulation lax.Stipules 2–8(15) mm, lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, acute, evenly to densely pubescent or tomentose, subpersistent.Male inflorescences terminal or subterminal on short lateral shoots, 4–10(13) cm long, spicate, usually with 1–2 lateral spikes at the base; bracts minute.Male flowers: calyx (3)4(5)-lobed, the lobes 0.5–1 mm long, unequal, subacute or obtuse, pubescent without, ciliate, yellowish-green; disk variable, continuous or fragmented, thick, partially or completely surrounding the (3)4(5) stamens; filaments 2.5 mm long, white, anthers 0.5 mm long, often reddish; pistillode minute, usually slender, sparingly pubescent.Female inflorescences 1.5–9(12) cm long, compound-spicate with 1–4 lateral spikes in the lower half, often galled and then irregularly densely paniculate, especially in the upper half, otherwise as in the male.Female flowers: pedicels 0.5–1 mm long, extending to 2 mm in fruit; calyx 1 mm long, cupular, shallowly 3–4-lobed, otherwise ± as in the male; disk c. 1 mm in diameter, shallowly cupular, crenellate, ovary 1 × 0.75 mm, compressed-ellipsoid, smooth, glabrous; styles 2–4, ± terminal, 0.75 mm long, bifid, strongly recurved, glabrous, whitish.Fruits 5–7(8) × 4–5(6) mm when dried, 6–8(9) × 5–6(7) mm when fresh, ellipsoid-suborbicular, slightly asymmetrical, strongly laterally compressed, irregularly and coarsely reticulate-rugulose when dried, green at first, later becoming whitish, red, purple or black when ripe.Seeds ellipsoid.