Meliosma forrestii W. W. Smith; M. simplicifolia (Roxburgh) Walpers subsp. thomsonii (King ex Brandis) Beusekom; M. subverticillaris Rehder & E. H. Wilson; M. thomsonii var. trichocarpa (Handel-Mazzetti) C. Y. Wu & S. K. Chen; M. trichocarpa Handel-Mazzetti.

Trees to 12 m tall, evergreen. Branchlets, petioles, abaxial surface of leaves, and inflorescences densely brownish velutinous. Leaves simple; petiole 2-4 cm, stout; leaf blade obovate-oblong or obovate-elliptic, 18-37 × 7-16 cm, leathery, abaxially densely lanuginous, adaxially pubescent on midvein and lateral veins, lateral veins 16-20 pairs, ascending and arched to margin, upper ones running into teeth, base attenuate to cuneate, margin sparsely serrate at and above middle, apex acute to acuminate. Panicle terminal, to 30 cm, branched 3(or 4) times. Flowers ca. 2 mm, nearly sessile. Sepals 5, ovate to broadly ovate, 1-1.2 mm, abaxially pubescent, ciliate, with 4 or 5 bracts outside. Petals light yellow: 3 outer ones suborbicular, ca. 1.5 mm in diam.; 2 inner ones ca. 1 mm, bifid to half at an obtuse angle; lobes subovate, ± ciliate. Fertile stamens ca. 1.2 mm. Disk very shallow, acutely 5-toothed. Pistil 1-1.2 mm; ovary ovoid, glabrous; style shorter than ovary. Drupe compressed-globose, 7-8 mm in diam.; endocarp subrounded, slightly oblique, irregularly distinctly projecting, midrib prominent.

Forests; 1000-2000 m. Guizhou, Sichuan, SE Xizang, NW Yunnan [N India, N Myanmar, Nepal].