Shrubs or small trees , deciduous or subevergreen. Bark dark gray to almost black, scaly. Twigs brownish, 1-2 mm, usually persistently pubescent. Buds reddish brown, ovoid, ca. 1 mm. Leaves: petiole 2-3.5 mm. Leaf blade oblong-elliptic or lanceolate, 15-25(-30) × (6-)8-12(-15) mm, base obtuse or cuneate, rarely subcordate, margins strongly cartilaginous, entire, sometimes sparsely mucronate-dentate toward apex, secondary veins 7-8 on each side, apex acute, sometimes rounded; surfaces abaxially dull gray, microscopically pubescent with long, soft, white or yellow hairs concentrated in tufts along midvein and base, adaxially glossy green, sparsely minutely stellate-pubescent or glabrate. Acorns solitary or paired, subsessile or on peduncle 2 mm; cup cup-shaped, 6 mm deep × ca. 8-9 mm wide, enclosing ca. 1/3 nut, scales moderately tuberculate; nut light brown, narrowly ovoid or elliptic, 8-15 × 6-8 mm. Cotyledons distinct.