Trees to 25 m tall; bark dark gray. Branchlets brown, sparsely villous when young. Petiole 0.8-1.5 cm, pubescent; leaf blade elliptic, oblong, or ovate-lanceolate, 5-12 × 2.5-5 cm, abaxially bearded in axils of lateral veins, both surfaces villous when young, becoming sparsely villous along veins, glabrescent elsewhere, base subrounded or subrounded-cuneate, margin doubly setiform serrate, apex acuminate or caudate-acuminate; lateral veins 14-16 on each side of midvein. Female inflorescence 6-10 × 3-4 cm; peduncle 1-4 cm, sparsely villous; bracts (2.5-)3-3.5(-5) × 0.8-1.2 cm, ovate-lanceolate or falcate-lanceolate, adaxially sparsely sericeous-villous along reticulate veins, outer margin remotely dentate, without basal lobe, inner margin entire, straight or falcate, with small, inflexed basal auricle, apex acute or acuminate; veins 4 or 5. Nutlet broadly ovoid, 4-5 × 3-4 mm, glabrous except sparsely villous at apex, sometimes resinous glandular, prominently ribbed. Fl. May-Jun, fr. Jul-Aug.
Mixed and broad-leaved forests, preferring deep, rich and moist soils, being commonly found alongside rivers and streams; at elevations from 1,100-2,400 metres.