Japan Flora: Large, glabrous, evergreen shrub or small erect tree with green, smooth, rather thick terete branches; leaves thick-coriaceous, elliptic or obovate, sometimes oblong, 3-7(-10) cm. long, 2-4 (-6) cm. wide, acute to obtuse, cuneate to acute at base, obtusely serrate, lustrous, the lateral nerves not prominent, the petioles 8-15(-20) mm. long, green; inflorescence 4-7 cm. long, densely rather many flowered, on thick, rather flattened pedundes 2-5 cm. long; flowers 4-merous, pale green, about 5 mm. across; calyx-teeth semirounded, entire; petals elliptic; filaments longer than the anthers; fruit globose, about 7 mm. across, the aril orange-red. June-July. Thickets and woods, especially common on slopes near the sea; Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu; very common and variable and much-planted.

Ryukyus, Korea, and China.

var. longifolius Nakai. Leaves narrower, oblanceolate, 7-10 cm. long, 1.5-2 cm. wide.
var. macrophyllus Regel. Leaves much broader.