Leaves are opposite, estipulate, eliptic to ovate-oblong, glabrous, thick but rather soft, acute to acuminate,with an obtuse apex, rotundate to subacute at the base, deep green and lustrous above.

Petioles are 1-5 cm long, shallowly canaliculate above.

Flowers in March to May.

Fruits ripening scarlet in winter.

This shrub is one of the representative undergrowth on the fertile soil in the warm-temperate forest of Japan.

It has been planted in the gardens all over the world.

Distribution ; Honshu (Miyagi to south), Shikoku, Kyushu, Ryukyu, Korea south