A deciduous shrub 6 to 12 ft high, whose young branchlets, under-surface of leaves (upper surface to a less extent) and the flower-stalks are clothed with a dense, grey, stellate down. Leaves ovate, oval or nearly round; the base rounded, the apex shortly pointed or rounded, 2 to 5 in. long, two-thirds to nearly as wide, finely toothed. Flowers white, tinged with pink, widely funnel-shaped, 1⁄4 in. long, produced during May in rounded usually five-branched cymes 2 to 3 in. across. Fruits ovoid, red, ultimately black, 1⁄3 to 1⁄2 in. long.
Native of the Himalaya from Bhutan to Baluchistan; introduced about 1830. This species is closely allied to V. lantana, and is very similar in foliage and general appearance, but differs in the following respects: cymes more often five-rayed than seven-rayed, corolla tinged with pink, and distinctly funnel-shaped, the corolla-tube longer than the lobes. The true plant is rare in gardens, and not so hardy as V. lantana.