Trees to 15 m tall. Terminal buds naked, brown. Leaves 15-25 cm; petiole ca. 6 cm, pubescent; rachis pubescent; leaflets 5 or 7, lateral ones sessile or shortly petiolulate, blade ovate-lanceolate to elliptic-lanceolate or obovate-lanceolate, 7-18 × 2-6 cm, with abundant, peltate scales, abaxially glabrous except for hairs along midvein and in axils of secondary veins, base oblique, apex acuminate; terminal petiolule 0-5(-10) mm. Male spikes 12-13 cm; peduncle 1-5 cm. Anthers puberulent. Nuts subglobose, 2.2-2.5 × 2.6-3 cm; husk without prominent wings; shell with 4 faint, longitudinal ridges, 1.2-2.3 mm, 4-chambered at base, lacunae absent. Fl. Apr-May, fr. Sep.

There are no reports of the cultivation of this tree in China, but the oil is used for cooking.

Mountain slopes; 1300-2200 m. Guangxi, NW to S Yunnan [India, N Vietnam]