Nothaphoebe tonkinensis Lecomte, Nouv. Arch. Mus. Hist. Nat., sér. 5, 5: 106. 1913; Caryodaphnopsis latifolia W. T. Wang; N. pyriformis (Elmer) Merrill; Persea pyriformis Elmer; P. tonkinensis (Lecomte) Kostermans.

Small- or medium-sized trees, 3-8(-15) m tall, up to 30 cm d.b.h. Branchlets brownish, terete, glabrous, striate, sometimes angled. Leaves opposite or subopposite; petiole 0.8-2 cm, slender, concave-convex, glabrous or sparsely brown villous; leaf blade glaucous abaxially, dark brown adaxially, ovate-oblong, elliptic, or orbicular-elliptic, rarely oblong, (10-)15-20(-30) × (4.5-)8-10(-17) cm, papery, glabrous on both surfaces, triplinerved, midrib slender, elevated abaxially, impressed adaxially, lateral veins 3 or 4 pairs, basal ones arising from midrib 3-15 mm above leaf base, straight and excurrent into upper 1/2 of leaf blade, other lateral veins arising from midrib at middle of leaf blade or above, always alternate, rarely subopposite, very arcuate and interconnected at ends, transverse veins arising from lateral veins and interconnected by veinlets, all veins slender and elevated abaxially, base attenuate or broadly cuneate to subrounded, margin thickened, plane, or slightly involute, apex obtusely shortly acuminate or acuminate. Panicle narrow and slender, (3-)4-13(-25) cm, axillary or subterminal, shortly branched; branches opposite or subopposite, transversely oriented, 0.6-6 cm, ± yellowish brown pubescent, rebranched or not, terminal branchlet bearing a 3-7-flowered corymbose cyme; bracts and bracteoles subulate, 1-2 mm, yellowish brown pubescent. Pedicels slender, 2-5 mm, sparsely pubescent. Flowers white or white-green, (3.5-)4-5(-6) mm in diam. when open. Perianth lobes 6, pubescent outside, yellow or brown tomentulose inside, outer ones small, triangular, 1-1.2 mm, inner ones large, (1.7-)2.5-3.5 × (2-)2.5-3 mm. Fertile stamens 9, 1.5-1.8 mm in 1st and 2nd whorls and ca. 1.2 mm in 3rd whorl; filaments villous, those of 3rd whorl each with 2 glands, others glandless; anthers of 1st and 2nd whorls clavate-oblong, with 2 upper introrse cells and 2 lower larger and always lateral cells, those of 3rd whorl oblong, with 4 sublateral cells. Staminodes sagittate-triangular, 0.7-1 mm, shortly stalked. Ovary ovoid, ca. 1 mm; style very short; stigma inconspicuous. Fruit narrowly ellipsoid-globose or ellipsoid, ca. 7 × 5 cm, broadly cuneate and abruptly contracted into a short stalk at base, apex rounded; exocarp membranous, ca. 0.5 mm thick; mesocarp fleshy and decayed; endocarp cartilaginous; fruit stalk 2-8 × ca. 2.5 mm. Seed 1, hard, like fruit in shape. Fl. Mar-Jun, fr. Jun-Aug.

Sparse valley forests, roadsides at forest margins; 100-1200 m. S Yunnan [Malaysia, Philippines, N Vietnam].