A large, semi-evergreen, straggling shrub, with round, slender, glabrous stems armed with short, decurved prickles. Leaves simple, heart-shaped, with a long tapering apex, 3 to 7 in. long, more than half as wide, the margins very finely and sharply toothed, and often scalloped into a few broad, very shallow lobes, of firm texture, glabrous above, but conspicuously silvery beneath with a close felt; stalks glabrous, 1 to 21⁄2 in. long, with one or two spines. Flowers borne in a terminal panicle, 6 to 9 in. long, each flower 1⁄2 in. across with no petals, but a coloured, downy calyx. Fruits black, small, and of poor flavour.
Native of Central China; originally discovered by Henry; introduced to cultivation by Wilson about 1900. Its leaves bear a striking resemblance to those of Tilia tomentosa. A remarkably distinct as well as rather handsome and effective shrub.