Ostrya liana Hu.

Trees to 20 m tall; bark dark gray. Branchlets gray-brown, densely pubescent when young, glabrescent. Petiole 1-1.5 cm, densely pubescent; leaf blade ovate or ovate-lanceolate, 3.5-12 × 1.5-5.5 cm, abaxially densely pubescent, glabrescent, bearded in axils of lateral veins, adaxially pilose especially along midvein, base subrounded, cordate, obliquely cordate, or broadly cuneate, margin irregularly and doubly serrate, apex acuminate; lateral veins 10-15 on each side of midvein, 5-10 mm apart. Female inflorescence racemose, 1.5-2.5 cm; peduncle 2-2.5 cm, densely pubescent; bracts overlapping, saccate, obovate-oblong or elliptic, 1-2 cm × 6-12 mm, membranous, glabrescent, base without a stipe, setose, apex apiculate; veins reticulate. Nutlet light brown, narrowly ovoid, 6-7 mm, shiny, glabrous, ribbed. Fl. May-Jul, fr. Jul-Sep.

The wood is hard and shiny, and is used in construction and making furniture.

Temperate forests; 1000-2800 m. S Gansu, Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Shaanxi, Sichuan [Japan, Korea]