Castanopsis amabilis var. brevispinosa W. C. Cheng & C. S. Chao.

Trees ca. 20 m tall; branches and rachis of inflorescences glabrous. Petiole 0.5-1.5 cm; leaf blade lanceolate to narrowly ovate, 7-12 × 2-3.5 cm, firmly papery, abaxially with tight layers of yellowish brown scalelike trichomes when young, often grayish with age, base broadly cuneate and symmetric or slightly oblique, margin entire or with 1-3 shallow teeth, apex caudate; midvein adaxially shallowly impressed or occasionally flat; secondary veins 9-13 on each side of midvein, slender, evident. Female inflorescence ca. 26 cm. Infructescence rachis 2-3 mm thick. Cupule broadly ellipsoid to subglobose, 2.2-2.8 cm in diam., outside grayish pubescent or with yellowish brown waxy scalelike trichomes, wall ca. 1 mm thick and exterior visible through bracts; bracts spinelike, 4-8 mm, dispersed or subannular. Nut 1 per cupule, broadly ovoid to subglobose, 0.8-1.2 cm in diam., glabrous; scar basal, 7-10 mm in diam. Fl. Aug-Oct, fr. Oct-Dec of following year.

* Broad-leaved evergreen forests; 300-900 m. SW Guangxi