A deciduous, glabrous shrub 8 to 12 ft high; young shoots red turning to brown, armed with slender, simple or three-parted spines 1⁄3 to 3⁄4 in. long. Leaves in clusters usually of three to five, but varying from one to eight, 1⁄2 to 11⁄8 in. long, mostly obovate to oblanceolate, rounded at the apex or pointed, entire or with one to four marginal spines often broad-based enough to constitute lobes. Flowers yellow, 1⁄4 to 1⁄3 in. wide in axillary clusters of up to eight; petals in two whorls of three, very concave; stalks slender, 1⁄5 to 3⁄5 in. long. Fruits ovoid, 3⁄8 in. long, dark red, faintly bloomy. Bot. Mag., t. 9332.
Native of N.W. Yunnan, China; introduced by Forrest in 1917. It flowered with the late Marquis of Headfort in May 1930, and is apparently quite hardy. The red young shoots and good crops of fruit are attractive.