Hydrangea moellendorffii Hance

Subshrubs 0.3-1 m tall. Stems brownish when dry, slightly striate. Leaves sparsely scattered along stem, alternate, sessile or petiolate; petiole 1-3(-7) cm; leaf blade elliptic to obovate-oblong, 6-22 × 3-10 cm, papery, abaxially sparsely pubescent to subglabrous, adaxially sparsely strigillose, secondary veins 7-9 on both sides of midvein, abaxially slightly prominent, base cuneate to narrowly so, margin roughly dentate-serrate, apex acuminate to shortly so. Inflorescence terminal, a corymbose cyme; bracts and bracteoles narrowly lanceolate to linear, persistent. Sterile flowers with sepals 2 or 3, white or pinkish, broadly ovate to suborbicular, 0.5-1.5 cm, base subtruncate. Fertile flowers with calyx tube cupular, 1.5-2 mm; teeth broadly ovate, apex rounded to obtuse. Petals pinkish or white, broadly elliptic to suborbicular, 2.5-3 mm. Stamens 15-25, slightly shorter than petals. Styles 3, ca. 1 mm in fruit. Capsule subglobose, 3-3.5 × 2.5-3 mm. Seeds brown, oblong to ellipsoid, 1-1.4 mm; wings opaque or translucent, darker to lighter than color of seed body. Fl. Jul-Aug, fr. Sep-Oct.

Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Zhejiang [Japan (Ryukyu Islands)].

Dense to sparse forests in valleys or on mountain slopes; 700-1500 m.