[2] It is native to the low-elevation woodlands of the Himalayas in China, India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Bhutan.

The leaves are gray-green and pale and fuzzy underneath, and several centimeters long.

The infructescence is a small aggregate of several individual fruits fused into a red body 2 or 3 centimeters across.

The species is naturalised in the states of New South Wales and Victoria in Australia.

[2] The common name Bentham's cornel derives from the alternative label Benthamia fragifera, coined by John Lindley in honour of fellow botanist George Bentham.