Korea Flora: Deciduous shrub. Branches gray with solid pith; young branches initially glandular becoming glabrous. Winter buds ovoid, 6-8mm long, narrowly ovate with 14 scales; leaf scar narrow, semi-elliptic with 3 bundle scars.Leaves opposite, oblong, (3)5-7(10) × 2-3.5(5)cm; apex acuminate, base cuneate; somewhat thick; adaxially initially pubescent becoming glabrous, abaxially with stiff hairs and glandular projections; margins entire; petioles 8-12mm long, glandular.Flowers axillary; peduncles 12-15(18)mm long, with glandular projections. Bracts 2-3mm long, with or without glands; bracteoles ovate. Calyx 5-lobed at apex, glandular-ciliate; corolla pale yellow, 10mm long, pubescent outside; tube 6-7mm long, swollen below. Stamens 6, equaling corolla; filaments pubescent at base; ovaries fused below middle, with glandular projections; style shorter than stamens, pubescent.Fruit 7mm long, red; seeds brown.

Flowering mid-May to early June;
Fruiting late July to late August.
Distribution: Southern Honshu, Japan (isolated populations in Hiroshima, Gunma, Nagano, Oki Island); Jeollanam-do, Jeollabuk-do, Gyeongsangnam-do, Gyeongsangbuk-do, Chungcheongbuk-do, southern Gangwon-do.
Taxonomic notes: L. cerasoides Nakai differs in glabrous young branches and peduncles, coarse abaxial leaf hairs, and fruits fused below middle, but these characters are considered too ambiguous for species recognition. L. cerasoides likely represents population-level variation within L. chrysantha distribution.