Quercus tephrocarpa Drake, J. Bot. (Morot) 4: 151. 1890; Pasania tephrocarpa (Drake) Hickel & A. Camus; Synaedrys tephrocarpa (Drake) Koidzumi.

Trees 10-15 m tall; branchlets, bud scales, young leaf blades, and rachis of inflorescences densely covered with ± rough brown long hairs. Branches stout, conspicuously lenticellate. Petiole rarely longer than 1 cm, 5-7 mm thick; leaf blade spatulate, obovate-oblong, or oblong, 30-50 × 9-10 cm, leathery to thickly papery, ± glaucous and abaxially with adherent, waxy scalelike trichomes when mature, base rounded to auriculate, margin entire or with a few teeth from middle to apex, apex acute with a blunt tip; secondary veins 21-26 on each side of midvein, adaxially slightly impressed, abruptly curving apically near margin but not fusing; tertiary veins subparallel. Infructescences 8-12 cm; rachis basally ca. 1 cm thick, hairy. Cupules in clusters of ca. 3 but 1 or 2 developed, subglobose, 3-4 cm in diam., completely enclosing nut, apically narrowed and nipple-shaped, wall 3-5 mm thick; bracts imbricate, ovate-triangular, brownish pubescent. Nut subglobose, ca. 2.5 cm in diam., sparsely covered with appressed hairs, wall ca. 2 mm thick; scar covering base of nut, slightly convex. Fr. Aug.

Broad-leaved evergreen forests; 600-1100 m. SE Yunnan [NE Vietnam]