Orias excelsa Dode, Bull. Soc. Bot. France 56: 232. 1909; Lagerstroemia subcostata Koehne var. ambigua Pampanini; L. excelsa var. ambigua (Pampanini) Furtado & Montien; L. yangii Chun.

Trees, 20-30 m tall. Branchlets terete, sparsely to densely gray pubescent, glabrescent. Leaves mostly opposite; petiole 4-8 mm, pubescent; leaf blade adaxially dark green, elliptic to broadly elliptic, 7-13 × 3.5-5 cm, membranous, abaxially pubescent on veins, adaxially glabrous, lateral vein 7-9 pairs, base acute, apex narrowly to broadly acuminate. Panicles 11-30 cm, densely gray-brown pubescent, densely flowered. Floral tube 6-merous, 2.5-3.5 mm, smooth walled, densely pubescent, glabrescent, with 12 dark veins; sepals 1.5-2 mm, adaxially sparsely puberulous at apex, glabrescent; annulus absent; epicalyx segments minute, ca. 0.3 mm, or absent. Petals yellowish white, ovate, 3-3.5 mm including claw 1-1.2 mm. Stamens (5 or)6-12, dimorphic, 6 antesepalous, also sometimes up to 6 antepetalous. Ovary glabrous. Capsules subglobose to oblong, 3.5-5 × 3-4 mm, (3 or)4-valved. Seeds including wing 3.5-4.8 mm. Fl. Apr, fr. Jul.

● Dense forests in mountain valleys; 1200-2000 m. Guizhou, Hubei, Sichuan.