A deciduous shrub 10 to 14 ft high, of erect habit; young shoots thickly covered with a pale brown wool. Leaves ovate-lanceolate, 1 to 2 in. long, about half as wide, long-pointed, dark green and silky-hairy above when young, paler and more hairy beneath; stalk 1⁄4 in. or less long. Flowers more or less pink, 3⁄8 in. across, produced in small clusters of rarely more than five, often of two or three, on short leafy twigs. Fruit red, 1⁄3 in. long, oblong, thickening towards the top; downy near the apex; nutlets two.
Native of the Himalaya, up to 12,000 ft; first raised in this country by Loddiges of Hackney in 1820. The species, which is not much grown in gardens now, is allied to C. simonsii, but differs in its much larger, longer-pointed leaves. According to Brandis it often occurs as underwood in oak forests.