Trees or shrubs, 1-2(-10) m tall; branchlets glabrous to pubescent, terminal buds glabrous to tomentose. Petiole 6-9 cm, glabrous or pubescent; rachis terete or narrowly winged distally, glabrous to pubescent; leaf blade imparipinnately compound, 20-35 cm; leaflets 5-15, opposite or subopposite; leaflet petiolule indistinct or 2-5 mm; leaflet blade oblong-elliptic to ovate-lanceolate, 3-16 × 0.9-5.5 cm, papery or thinly leathery, glabrous to sparsely pubescent on both surfaces, glaucous abaxially, base oblique, rounded or broadly cuneate, margin entire, apex acuminate to caudate-acuminate, lateral veins 15-22 pairs, slightly prominent on both surfaces. Inflorescence paniculate, 7-15 cm, many branched, glabrous. Pedicel ca. 2 mm; flowers yellowish green, ca. 2 mm in diam. Calyx glabrous, lobes broadly ovate, ca. 1 mm, obtuse apically. Petals oblong, ca. 2 mm, obtuse apically, with ± conspicuous featherlike venation pattern, revolute at anthesis. Stamens exserted; filaments linear, ca. 2 mm; anthers ovoid, ca. 1 mm. Disk 5-lobed. Ovary globose, glabrous. Drupe large, asymmetrical, 7-10 mm in diam., compressed, apex eccentric; epicarp thin, yellow, glabrous; mesocarp thick, white, waxy, with brown longitudinal resin ducts.

From the fruits of this species a wax is extracted for use in varnishes and polishes.

Lowland and hill forests, lowland thickets on limestone; 100-1500(-2500) m. Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Ningxia, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, SE Xizang, Yunnan, Zhejiang [Cambodia, India, Japan, Korea, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam].