Trees, deciduous, ca. 20 m tall. Branches strong, stout, grooved, grayish yellow pubescent when young. Leaves with petiole 25-40 cm or longer, axis terete, often red when dry; leaflets 7-12 pairs, subopposite; petiolules 5-8 mm; blades adaxially slightly shiny, oblong or ovate-lanceolate, sometimes falcate, 7-13 × 1.5-4 cm, usually thinly papery, glabrous or densely appressed villous, lateral veins very dense, slender, slightly prominent on both surfaces, base obtuse, apex acute or sometimes nearly acuminate. Inflorescences terminal, erect, tower-shaped, main rachis deeply grooved, shortly golden tomentose. Flowers zygomorphic, slightly large; buds broadly ovoid. Pedicels ca. 1.5 mm. Sepals 5, oblong or broadly ovate, larger ones ca. 3 mm, subleathery, abaxially golden sericeous-tomentose. Petals 4, oblanceolate, ca. 3.8 mm, tomentose; scales large, nearly as long as 2/3 of petals, margin densely villous. Disk semilunar, thick. Filaments densely shortly hispid. Fertile schizocarps dark red or orange-red, globose, ca. 2.5 cm in diam. Fl. summer, fr. early autumn.

This species is used medicinally and for timber.

Sparse forests; 500-2100 m. Taiwan, Yunnan [Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, W Malaysia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam].