Trees to 25 m tall. Young branchlets purplish brown, sparsely pubescent. Petiole 1.5-2 cm, sparsely pubescent when young; leaf blade ovate, broadly elliptic, or obovate-elliptic, 10-20 × 4-6 cm, ± rigidly papery, abaxially with silky scalelike glands, sparsely pubescent along midvein when young, and grayish brown to ± purplish when dry, base broadly cuneate and sometimes slightly asymmetric, margin entire, apex acute to shortly acuminate; secondary veins 11-16 on each side of midvein, abaxially impressed; tertiary veins abaxially slender, evident or not visible. Inflorescences terminal at apex of current year's branches; Male inflorescences in a panicle; rachis puberulent. Female inflorescence with cupules in clusters of ca. 3 or solitary, scattered on rachis. Infructescences 8-15 cm; rachis 0.7-1.3 cm thick, sparsely lenticellate. Cupule plate-shaped, 0.7-1.2 × 2.5-3 cm, wall basally woody; bracts imbricate, broadly triangular to rhomboid, densely puberulent. Nut broadly ellipsoid, 2-2.6 × 2-3 cm, densely puberulent, apex rounded to flat or sometimes with a ± concave center; scar concave. Fl. Jun, fr. Aug-Oct of following year.

* Broad-leaved evergreen forests; 1100-2500 m. SW Yunnan (Lincang Xian)