Tree, 10-25 m by 20-25 cm ø; bark smooth, lenticellate, or scaly, greenish brown. Branchlets initially with some reddish brown tomentum, glabrescent, slender, sparsely lenticellate; terminal bud ovoid-globose, 2-3 by 2 mm, scales ovate-linear, acute. (Stipules not seen.) Leaves stiff-coriaceous, 7-15 by 3-6 cm (index 2.4-3.4), widest at the middle; base attenuate, acute, top (sub)acuminate; surfaces discolorous, above more or less glossy greenish, glabrous, beneath dull pale brownish, more or less densely covered with adpressed stellate scales (magnification 30-60!) and virtually no hairs; midrib and nerves prominent beneath, thinly prominent or flat above; nerves 5-7 pairs at an angle of 45-60°, ascending, subparallel, arcuating near the margin; reticulation fine, scalariform, obscure above; petiole 1½-3 cm, slender, adaxially flat, base thick. Male rachis 5-10 cm, 1½-2 mm ø, subglabrous, bracts ovate-acute, 1-1½ by 0.7 mm, thick-coriaceous, subglabrous, bracteoles ovate-rounded, 0.7 by 0.4 mm, membranous, with dense tomentum outside; ♂ flowers solitary or more commonly in clusters of 3-7, perianth deeply incised, lobes 4-6, ovate-acute, 1 by 1 mm, densely tomentose, stamens 8-12, filaments 3-3½ mm, anthers 0.2-0.25 mm long, pistillode 1 mm ø. Female rachis (sometimes androgynous) 5-8 cm; ♀ flowers solitary, perianth ½-1 mm incised, lobes 6, ovate-acute, densely hairy outside, staminodes 12, strongly reduced, styles 3, cylindrical-conical, recurved, 1-2 mm; ovary rounded-triangular. Cupule subsessile, ellipsoid-globose, 2½-3 by 2-2½ cm, adaxially slightly flattened; wall c. 2 mm thick, with some fulvous puberulence but largely glabrous, except for the ad axial sector rather laxly but evenly covered with sturdy spines 6-10 mm, mostly solitary but sometimes in bundles, somewhat recurved, sparsely puberulous; dehiscence into 3 (?) parts or irregular. Fruit solitary, ellipsoid-globose, 2-2½ by 2 cm, wall 1 mm thick, hard, almost completely adnate to the cupule; when ripe rugose and glabrous; cotyledons flat-convex.
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