Shrubs or small trees, ca. 6 m tall. Young branchlets slender, ca. 1 mm in diam., pubescent, later gradually deciduous. Leaves alternate; petiole 5-10 mm, white or golden and appressed sericeous, later deciduous; leaf blade elliptic or narrowly elliptic, 5-10 × 1.5-4 cm, papery, white or golden and appressed sericeous on both surfaces when young, later only sericeous on veins and nerve axil, olivaceous when dry, trinerved, lateral veins reaching apex, base cuneate or acute, apex caudate-acuminate. Umbels several inserted at short branch in leaf axil, short branch elongate in bloom, later umbel inserted at branch base, 4-6-flowered; male umbel pedunculate, peduncles 5-7 mm, pubescent; female umbel pedunculate, peduncles 3-4 mm, pubescent. Male flowers: pedicels 2-3 mm, densely brown pubescent, with involucral trace at base; perianth tube densely villous; tepals oblong, ca. 1.4 × 0.5 mm, pubescent on outer surface, glabrous on inner surface, apex shortly acuminate or rounded; stamens ca. 1.3 mm; anthers broadly elliptic; filaments ca. 1 mm, brown-yellow pubescent, 2-glandular near base in 2nd whorl; glands obovate, stipitate; reduced pistil ca. 0.5 mm; ovary ellipsoid; style and stigma forming an obtuse mucro. Female flowers: perianth tube funnelform, ca. 1 mm; tepals fasciated, apex acuminate, with obtuse mucro, ca. 1.5 × 0.3 mm, slightly longer in inner whorl, brown pubescent on outer surface; reduced stamens fasciated, ca. 1.2 mm, brown pubescent, 2-glandular below middle in 3rd whorl; glands elliptic, ca. 0.5 mm; ovary ellipsoid, ca. 0.7 mm, pubescent; style ca. 1 mm, pubescent; stigma disciform. Fruits ellipsoid, 8-10 × 6-7 mm, glabrous. Fl. Feb-Mar, fr. Aug-Sep.

A record from Vietnam (in Fl. Hainan. 1: 298. 1964) is erroneous.

The swollen parts of the roots are used as medicine and for making starch and aromatic oil.

● Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan.