Meliosma affinis Merrill; M. buchananiifolia Merrill; M. henryi Diels subsp. mannii (Lace) Beusekom; M. henryi subsp. thorelii (Lecomte) Beusekom; M. mannii Lace.

Trees to 14 m tall, evergreen. Leaves simple; petiole 1.5-2 cm; leaf blade oblanceolate-elliptic or oblanceolate, 15-25 × 4-8 cm, leathery, abaxially glabrous or sparsely pubescent, vein axils crinite, lateral veins 15-22 pairs, nearly straight, arched-anastomosing near margin, attenuate 3/4 to base, margin entire or acutely serrulate, apex acuminate. Panicle terminal or axillary on apical branches, erect, 15-18 cm; branches flattened, brownish pubescent. Pedicel short. Flowers aromatic, 2-25 mm in diam. Sepals 5, ovate, 0.6-0.8 mm, apex obtuse, ciliate. Petals white or yellowish white: 3 outer ones suborbicular, ca. 2 mm; 2 inner ones narrowly lanceolate, shorter than outer ones, margin entire. Fertile stamens ca. 1.3 mm. Pistil ca. 1.6 mm; ovary pubescent; style ca. 1 mm. Drupe globose, slightly oblique, 6-9 mm in diam.; endocarp subglobose, convex, with sparse, scattered netlike strips, midrib inconspicuously projecting. Fl. summer, fr. Oct-Nov.

The bark is used in making incense.

Forests, wooded ravines; 200-1000 m. E and S Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, S Guizhou, Hainan, Sichuan, S Yunnan [India, Laos, Vietnam].