Trees. Petiole 1-2 cm; leaf blade narrowly elliptic to lanceolate, 8-15 × 3-5 cm or rarely larger, thickly papery, base acute to cuneate and often oblique, margin serrate-dentate, apex mucronate to caudate; midvein slightly impressed; secondary veins 16-20 on each side of midvein, adaxially shallowly furrowed and impressed or slightly raised. Inflorescence rachis sparsely and shortly hairy. Infructescences 8-18 cm. Cupule wall 1-2 mm thick; bracts spinelike, congested, entirely covering cupule, free or base connate into bundles. Nut 1 per cupule, ovoid, ca. 1.5 cm, pubescent; scar basal, ca. 1 cm in diam. Fl. Apr-Jun, fr. Oct-Dec of following year.

Very similar, if not identical, to Castanopsis indica.

Broad-leaved evergreen forests on limestone; below 1000 m. W Guangxi, S Guizhou, SE Yunnan [NE Vietnam]