Bassia butyracea Roxburgh, Asiat. Res. 8: 477. 1808.

Trees to 25 m tall. Branchlets thick, terete to subterete, striate and with lenticels, yellowish brown or brown pubescent to subglabrous. Stipules lanceolate, ca. 5 mm, brown to pale yellow pubescent, early deciduous; leaf blade elliptic-oblong, ovate, or ovate-oblong, (6--)17--35 X (3--)8--17 cm, leathery, yellowish-brown to brown pubescent, base cuneate, apex obtuse to obtuse-acuminate. Flowers axillary, clustered, solitary to 6. Pedicel 2--4.5 cm, to 5 cm in fruit, pubescent. Sepals (4 or)5(or 6), ovate, 0.9--1.5 X 0.6--1 cm, outside pubescent, inside scattered lanate, apex obtuse. Corolla 1.5--2 cm; lobes 8--10, oblong, ovate, or narrowly obovate, (7--)8--10 X (4--)5--8 mm, apex obtuse to acute, margin usually irregularly crenulate. Stamens (18--)20--40, 0.9--1.2 cm, glabrous or brown lanate; anthers sagittate, apex awned. Ovary conical, ca. 2 X 5 mm, rust colored sericeous, 7--12-locular. Style 1.5--5 cm, glabrous. Fruit ovoid-globose to oblong, 2--2.5 X 1--1.5 cm, smooth, apex acute; exocarp fleshy; 1--3(--5)-seeded. Seeds brown, oblong-obovoid, ca. 1.3 X 1 X 0.6 cm, smooth, shiny; scar lanceolate.

No specimens have been seen by the authors. The description is according to P. Royen (Blumea 9: 82. 1958.).

ca. 1600 m. SE Xizang (on border with Bhutan) [Bhutan, India, Nepal].