Vines; old branches usually gray. Petiole slender, ca. 1 cm; leaf blade narrowly oblong or narrowly elliptic, sometimes elliptic, 6-15 × 2-5.5 cm, leathery or nearly so, base cuneate or sometimes rounded, apex shortly acuminate or acute. Male inflorescences once branched, occasionally twice; male spikes with 12-16 involucral collars, each collar with 50-60 flowers plus 10-14 sterile female flowers, basal hairs forming a dense cushion. Female inflorescences axillary, unbranched, short and thick when ripe; female spikes with involucral collars 6-10 mm apart. Seeds broadly ellipsoid or oblong-ellipsoid, 2.5(-3) × 1.5-1.6 cm, base cuneate into a stipe, apex acute or subacute, outer coat thin and smooth; stipe 1.5-2.5 cm × ca. 2 mm, with inconspicuous, longitudinal grooves.

Shows many similarities to the rather poorly known Gnetum latifolium Blume var. longipes (Markgraf) Hiep, from Cambodia, New Guinea, the Philippines, and probably Vietnam, and may indeed prove to be the same taxon. The information available suggests that there is a discontinuity between G. latifolium var. longipes and other varieties of G. latifolium, and so the Chinese taxon is here treated as a distinct species.

* Mountain slopes. S Guangxi (Shangsi Xian), SE Yunnan (Xichou Xian)