Trees, to 25 m tall, to 45 cm d.b.h. Bark pale grayish brown. Young twigs and vegetative buds reddish brown pubescent, later glabrescent. Stipular scar semi-elliptic, 3-5 mm. Petiole 1-3(-4.5) cm, base slightly swollen; leaf blade narrowly obovate, narrowly elliptic-obovate, or rarely narrowly elliptic, 8-17(-20) × 2.5-5.5(-9.5) cm, leathery or thinly leathery, abaxially sparsely reddish brown pubescent, secondary veins 8-17 on each side of midvein, reticulate veins conspicuous or inconspicuous on both surfaces when dry, base cuneate and decurrent along petiole, margin slightly involute and wavy or not wavy, apex acute to acuminate. Peduncle 5-11(-40) × 4-10 mm, with 1 annular bract scar, with or without reddish brown pubescence. Tepals 9, 3 per whorl, white; outer 3 tepals slightly thinner, oblong-elliptic, broadly ovate or obovate, 5-7 × 3-4 cm, nearly leathery; tepals of inner 2 whorls obovate, 4-6 × 2-3 cm, usually fleshy. Stamens red, ca. 1 cm; connective forming an obtuse mucro; anthers ca. 8 mm. Gynoecium 1.5-2.5 cm, smooth; carpels 18-32, basal ones 5-10 × 3-5 mm, middle ones ca. 5 mm wide on exposed side; ovules 5-10 per carpel; styles inconspicuous or to 1 mm. Fruit brown, ovoid to ellipsoid-ovoid, 2-6 cm; mature carpels with dot-protuberance on exposed side, apex with or without a ca. 1 mm beak. Seeds slightly flat, 7-8 × 5-6 mm; testa red. Fl. Apr-May, fr. Sep-Oct.

This species is used medicinally and for timber.

Hills, forests, beside rivers; 300-1200 m. S Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Hunan, Jiangxi, Yunnan, Zhejiang [Vietnam].