Friesia chinensis Gardner & Champion, Hooker’s J. Bot. Kew Gard. Misc. 1: 243. 1849.

Trees evergreen, 3-7 m tall. Branchlets puberulent, glabrous when old. Petiole 1.5-2 cm, slender, minutely pubescent when young; leaf blade ovate-lanceolate or lanceolate, 5-8 × 2-3 cm, papery, pubescent when young, soon glabrescent, abaxially black glandular punctate, lateral veins 4-6 per side, slightly raised abaxially, veinlets inconspicuous on both surfaces, base rounded, rarely broadly cuneate, margin minutely crenate, apex acuminate. Racemes in axils of fallen leaves, 3-4 cm; peduncles puberulent. Pedicel ca. 3 mm. Flowers polygamous. Bisexual flowers: sepals 4, lanceolate, ca. 3 mm, both surfaces minutely pubescent. Petals 4, oblong, ca. 3 mm, margin nearly entire, adaxially sparsely minutely pubescent. Stamens 8 or 9, ca. 2 mm; filaments very short; anthers without hairs at apices. Ovary 2-loculed. Drupe ellipsoid, shorter than 1 cm. Fl. May-Jun, fr. Jun-Sep.

Evergreen forests; 300-900 m. Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Jiangxi, Zhejiang [Vietnam].