Trees, 16-18 m tall. Bark on trunk and larger branches brown to grayish brown, fibrous or flaky fibrous, persistent; bark on smaller branches white or grayish white, smooth, exfoliating. Branchlets ridged. Young leaves opposite, petiolate; leaf blade ovate, apex rounded. Mature leaves with a ca. 1.5 cm petiole; leaf blade ovate to long ovate, 8-12 × 4-6 cm, thinly leathery, secondary veins 3-6 mm apart and at an angle of ca. 60° from midvein, intramarginal veins ca. 1 mm from margin, base rounded, apex sharp. Inflorescences axillary, simple, umbels 6-10-flowered; peduncle 6-10 mm, compressed. Flower buds long obovate, ca. 7 mm. Hypanthium narrowly obconic, ca. 5 mm, 2-ridged; stipe usually absent but sometimes to 3 mm; calyptra obtusely pyramidal, 2-2.5 mm, apex obtuse. Stamens 4-5 mm; anthers long elliptic, dehiscing longitudinally. Capsule campanulate to obconic, 6-8 × 5-6 mm; disk moderately broad; valves 4 or 5, equaling hypanthium rim or included. Fl. Aug-Oct.

Cultivated in Guangdong, Guangxi, Jiangxi, Sichuan, and Taiwan [native to SE Australia].