Shrub to about 2 m tall. Leaves with 3-7 lobes, the upper surface with down-pressed bristles; stipules long and lanceolate. Flowers with the sepals 3 mm or more long, without a tooth at the tip. Petals rounded and narrowed at the base; summer. Fruit hairy.

S. tanakae (Franch. &Sav.) Franch. &Sav. from Japan (see key) is occasionally cultivated; it has sepals mostly less than 3 mm long and petals that are not tapered gradually at the base.

China, Japan and Korea.

Source: Spencer, R. (2002). Rosaceae. In: Spencer, R.. Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 3. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 2. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.