A twiggy shrub with slender, hairy, reddish young shoots; thorns about 1⁄4 in. long, slender. Leaves obovate or somewhat spoon-shaped, much tapered and entire at the base, the apex rounded or abruptly tapered, slightly lobed and toothed; 1 to 21⁄2 in. long, 1⁄2 to 11⁄4 in. wide; pale bright green, and soon quite glabrous above; slightly hairy beneath; stalk 1⁄2 in. long, or with the leaf-blade almost reaching to the base, hairy; stipules semi-heart-shaped, coarsely toothed, 1⁄2 in. long. Flowers white, 1⁄2 to 3⁄4 in. across, produced during May and June in few-flowered corymbs; stalks hairy; stamens twenty; styles five, hairy at the base. Fruit globose or slightly pear-shaped, red, 1⁄2 to 5⁄8 in. diameter.
Native of Japan and Central China; long known in cultivation, but always rare. So far as I have seen, it has little to recommend it, although wild specimens show it to be a pretty bush in nature. I suspect it is spring tender.