Trees, medium-sized to large, deciduous, to 18 m tall. Branchlets brownish or blackish purple, glabrous, with conspicuous lenticels. Petiole 2-4 cm, glabrous or pilose; leaf blade oblong-ovate, broadly elliptic-ovate, or oblong, rarely subrounded, 12-18 × 7-15 cm, papery, abaxially densely tomentose to pilose on major veins, adaxially glabrous, base truncate and subrounded, or cordate, margin crenate-serrate or obtusely serrate, rarely subentire, apex acuminate. Inflorescence densely ferruginous or yellow-brownish tomentose. Flowers yellow-green, 7.5-8.5 mm in diam., ferruginous pilose, in terminal or axillary dichasial cymes. Sepals 2.8-3 × 2.1-2.6 mm, conspicuously ferruginous pilose. Petals ovate-spatulate, 2.8-3 × 1.8-2 mm, clawed at base, claw 0.8-1.1 mm. Disk densely ferruginous villous. Styles 1-1.8 mm, villous basally, deeply divided up to base. Fruiting peduncles and pedicels dilating, ferruginous tomentose. Fruit yellow-brown or brown at maturity, subglobose. Seeds black, blackish purple, or brown, subglobose, 4-5.5 mm in diam. Fl. May-Jun, fr. Aug-Oct.

Mountain forests, dense forests on slopes; 600-1300 m. Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Zhejiang [Japan].