A deciduous tree 30 to 50 ft high; young shoots glabrous or nearly so. Leaves opposite, ovate to roundish or oblong, the base rounded or tapering, the apex with a slender, often tail-like point; 4 to 7 in. long, 2 to 31⁄2 in. wide; bright green, and soon becoming glabrous above; glaucous beneath, and at first clothed with pale, flattened, minute hairs attached at their middle; veins in six to eight pairs; stalks 1⁄2 to 11⁄4 in. long. Flowers yellowish white, numerous, produced in terminal, somewhat rounded cymes 4 to 6 in. across; each flower 1⁄2 in. diameter; petals oblong; calyx minutely toothed, grey with minute down. Fruit globose, 1⁄4 in. diameter, blue when ripe. Blossoms during July and August. Bot. Mag., t. 8261.
Native of the Himalaya, whence it was introduced in 1827, China, and Japan. It is a handsome and striking small tree, chiefly noteworthy for its fine foliage; the flowers, although profusely borne, are of too dull a white to be very effective. There was a tree approaching 40 ft in height in Coombe Wood nursery. Much confusion has existed between this species and C. controversa (q.v.).