A deciduous climber up to 10 ft high, with glabrous, slender young shoots. Leaves toothless, narrowly oblong to oval-lanceolate, slenderly pointed, shortly tapered to rounded at the base, 1 to 4 in. long, 1⁄3 to 11⁄2 in. wide, glabrous; stalk slender, 1⁄6 to 1⁄3 in. long. Flowers 1⁄4 in. long, cup-shaped, three to six in axillary cymes, with a slender main-stalk up to 11⁄2 in. long. Sepals small, rounded-triangular; petals greenish or dull purple, oval, blunt, 1⁄5 in. long; stamens about as long as the petals. Fruits kidney-shaped, 1⁄4 in. wide, blue-black, ripe in October, the sepals persisting at the base.
Native of W. China; introduced by Wilson in 1908. It differs from S. latifolia in its narrower, smaller, glabrous leaves and longer, more slender flower-stalks. It was introduced to Kew from the Arnold Arboretum in 1913 and has ripened fruit there. Quite hardy but of no great garden value. Flowers in May.