Trees 10-15 m tall. Branchlets of current year covered with early glabrescent, tawny crisp hairs; branches of last-year growth blackish brown, with gray to pale yellowish brown, lamellate wax layer, densely and minutely lenticellate. Petiole 5-8(-10 or more) mm, base thickened; leaf blade narrowly oblong to sometimes narrowly oblanceolate, 7-15 × 1-2.5 cm, rigidly papery, with tawny crisp hairs on both surfaces when young, soon glabrescent, adaxially with waxy scalelike trichomes and grayish brown when dry, base cuneate, margin entire or ± undulate near apex, apex narrowly acuminate; secondary veins 12-16 on each side of midvein, obscure near margin; tertiary veins abaxially very slender, evident or not visible. Male inflorescences terminal panicles, 3-7 cm; rachis tomentose with tawny, short hairs. Female and androgynous inflorescences to 18 cm. Female inflorescence with rachis 2-3 mm thick; cupules in clusters of ca. 3. Cupule depressed globose to subglobose, 1-1.2 × 1.4-1.7 cm, enclosing 3/4-4/5 of nut, wall ca. 1 mm thick and crustaceous; bracts triangular, squamose, appressed, tawny scurfy. Nut ± depressed globose, 1-1.2 × 1.2-1.4 cm, glabrous, apex ± pointed, wall ca. 0.5 mm thick; scar 1-1.1 cm in diam., concave. Fl. Jul-Sep, fr. Jul-Sep of following year.