Quercus sessilifolia Blume, Mus. Bot. 1: 305. 1850; Cyclobalanopsis nubium (Handel-Mazzetti) Chun ex Q. F. Zheng; C. paucidentata (Franchet ex Nakai) Kudo & Masamune; Q. chingii F. P. Metcalf; Q. nubium Handel-Mazzetti; Q. paucidentata Franchet ex Nakai.

Trees to 25 m tall. Branchlets waxy, glaucous, lenticellate; lenticels grayish brown, rounded, hairy, glabrescent. Petiole 5-10 mm, glabrous; leaf blade oblong-elliptic to lanceolate-elliptic, 7-15 × 1.5-4 cm, leathery, subconcolorous, glabrous, base cuneate, margin entire or apically 2-4 serrate, apex acute to shortly acuminate; secondary veins 10-14 on each side of midvein, inconspicuous; tertiary veins abaxially obscure. Female inflorescence ca. 1.5 cm. Cupule cupular, 1-1.5 cm in diam., enclosing ca. 1/3 of nut, outside grayish brown tomentose, inside grayish brown feltlike tomentose, wall ca. 1 mm thick; bracts in 5-7 rings, margin of basal 2 or 3 denticulate, others subentire. Nut obovoid to ellipsoid-obovoid, 1.7-2.4 × 0.8-1.5 cm, base with a few rings; scar 5-7 mm in diam., slightly convex; stylopodium persistent, raised. Fl. Apr-May, fr. Oct-Nov.

Mixed mesophytic forests in mountains; 1000-1700 m. Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Zhejiang [Japan]