Trees 5-20 m tall, andromonoecious. Bark rough. Branchlets slender; winter buds brown, ellipsoidal, small, scales villous along margin. Leaves deciduous; petiole 2.5-5(-8) cm, glabrous; leaf blade abaxially whitish, ovate, obovate, elliptic, or orbicular, (3-)6-10 × (3-)4-6 cm, membranous, abaxially glaucous, slightly pubescent especially on veins, adaxially glabrous, primary veins 3, base rounded or cuneate, shallowly or deeply 3-lobed, occasionally entire; middle lobe triangular-ovate or lanceolate, apex acute or shortly acuminate; lateral lobes short, margin usually entire, rarely with a few serrations, apex acute, sometimes lobes very small or obsolete. Inflorescence terminal, corymbose, ca. 3 cm wide, pubescent, numerous flowered. Pedicel 5-10 mm. Sepals 5, ovate, glabrous. Petals 5, yellowish white, narrowly lanceolate or spatulate-lanceolate, ca. 2 mm, apex obtuse. Stamens 8. Disk glabrous, extrastaminal. Ovary densely yellowish villous; style glabrous, very short; stigmas widely spreading or recurved. Fruit yellowish brown; nutlets strongly convex, 6-7 mm in diam.; wing broad at middle, contracted at base, wings spreading variously. Fl. Apr, fr. Aug.

Forests; sea level to 1500 m. Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guizhou, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, S Shaanxi, Shandong, Sichuan, Taiwan, Zhejiang [Japan].