Tree up to 20 m, bole up to 40 cm ø, covered with greyish bark; at higher altitudes a shrub, 2-5 m. Branchlets covered with a woolly-floccose rufescent, later greyish tomentum at the tips. Leaves elliptic or obovate-elliptic, apex shortly subacutely acuminate, base cuneate, thin-coriaceous, entire below, regularly serrate with callose teeth c. 1 mm long, younger ones glabrous above, ± densely set with minute stellate ± rusty hairs on midrib, nerves, veins and veinlets, and with sparse, longer simple or fascicled hairs on the midrib beneath, glabrous on the intervenium beneath, mature ones glabrescent, generally (4-)5-8(-11) by (2-)2.5-4cm, at higher altitudes constantly smaller, (2.5-)3-5(-6) by (1-)1.5-2 cm, nerves 10-12 (rarely up to 15) curved-ascendent pairs, which rather distinctly inarch before the edge, veins slightly prominent, veinlets rather inconspicuous beneath; petiole ± robust, 0.6-1.2(-l.5) cm. Racemes few to several, forming an erect panicle, all over covered with a floccose-lanate, ± rusty or finally greyish tomentum, 6-12(-16) cm, the numerous flowers rather laxly set along the thickish rachis. Pedicels robust, (3-)4-5 mm at anthesis, up to 6 mm in fruit, bract subulate, up to 6 mm, caducous. Calyx lobes ovate-oblong, rather abruptly acuminate, long-ciliate, pale rusty-floccose dorsally, 3-4 mm. Petals obovate, crenulate all along the margin, glabrous, white (or suffused with red initially), with a rather unpleasant smell, 3-4 by c. 2 mm. Filaments glabrous, c. 2.5 mm; anthers broad-obovate, base almost mucronate, 0.8 mm. Ovary villous; style glabrous, 3-3.5 mm (in fruit 3.5-4 mm), very shortly trilobed. Capsule subglobose, tomentulose, 2.5 mm ø. Seeds irregularly ovoid-angular, 0.8-1 mm.
A tree in mountain forest or forest edge, ascending into more open summit vegetation and shrub-like there, sometimes on volcanic tuff, rather common locally, (1160-)1400-2800(-3000) m. Fl. fr. Jan.-Dec.
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