Trees ca. 30 m tall, trunk to ca. 100 cm in diam.; bark scabrous; young branches sparsely pubescent; buds ovoid, ca. 1 cm, sparsely pubescent. Stipules caducous; petiole 0.4–1 cm; leaf blade obovate or narrowly so, 5–11 × 2–4.5 cm, abaxially glabrous, base narrowly cuneate, margin crenate-serrulate, apex rounded or obtuse; lateral veins 7–9 on each side, prominent on both surfaces. Male inflorescences ellipsoid, usually many arranged in raceme; bracts ovate, brown-pubescent. Female inflorescence usually solitary in leaf axil, 16–28-flowered; peduncle ca. 3 cm. Male flowers: stamen filaments very short; anthers red, obovoid, ca. 1.5 mm. Female flowers: staminodes usually scalelike; styles ca. 3 mm, pubescent, apex recurved. Infructescences subglobose, ca. 2 cm wide, base truncate. Seeds brown, irregularly angular. Fl. Mar–Jun, fr. Jul–Sep.

Montane evergreen forests; 800--1400 m. Hainan.