Trees to 14 m tall. Terminal buds naked, rusty brown. Leaves 20-30 cm; petiole 4-8 cm, glabrous; rachis pubescent; leaflets (5 or)7 or 9, lateral ones sessile, blade elliptic to elliptic-lanceolate, (6-)11-18 × (2-)3.5-7 cm, with abundant, peltate scales, abaxially ± glabrous except for hairs along midvein and in axils of secondary veins, base cuneate, apex acuminate; terminal petiolule 0-5 mm. Male spikes unknown. Nuts obovoid, (2-)3-3.7 × 2.3-3 cm; husk winged to middle; shell with 4 faint, longitudinal ridges, 1.5-2.5 mm thick, 4-chambered at base, lacunae absent. Fl. Mar-Apr, fr. Sep-Nov

Cultivated for its edible nuts, which are also pressed for oil. Carya cathayensis and C. hunanensis are very similar, including the leaf color which tends to be green adaxially and rusty brown or bronze abaxially. They differ mainly in the number of leaflets, nut size, and the extent of wings on the husk.

* Forests in valleys, riverbanks; 900-1000 m. Guangxi, Guizhou, Hunan.