Trees, to 30 m tall, d.b.h. to 80 cm, deciduous. Branchlets of first year with very short hairs. Winter buds narrowly ovate; bud scales glabrous. Petiole ca. 5 mm, pubescent to subglabrous; leaf blade oblong-elliptic, elliptic, or rarely oblong-obovate, 8.5-17 × 5-8 cm, abaxially sparsely pubescent and with tufted hairs in vein axils, adaxially ± scabrous and hirsute when young but glabrescent with trichome scars, base oblique, margin doubly serrate, apex shortly caudate; secondary veins 18-25 on each side of midvein. Perianth campanulate, 4-lobed, glabrous except for margin of tepals. Filament nearly twice as long as perianth. Samara ± orbicular, 7-8 × 7-8 mm, glabrous except for pubescence on stigmatic surface in notch, tip long beak-shaped; perianth persistent. Seed near center of samara. Fl. and fr. Mar-May. 2n = 28*.

* Broad-leaved forests; ca. 2800 m. SE Xizang (Zayü).