Trees to 10 m tall, deciduous. Bark brownish black. Young branches and rachis of inflorescences with prickles. Young branches dark purplish red. Leaves (5-)13-19-foliolate; rachis pubescent; leaflet blades opposite, subsessile, broadly ovate, elliptic, or rarely suborbicular, 8-15 × 4-9 cm, thickly leathery, abaxially with soft grayish white to grayish yellow woolly-villous indumentum, oil glands inconspicuous, midvein adaxially impressed, secondary veins 11-17 on each side of midvein, base symmetrically or rarely obliquely rounded to subcordate, margin entire or crenulate, apex acute. Inflorescences terminal, many flowered. Flowers 5-merous. Pedicel pale purplish red, pubescent. Perianth in 2 series. Petals white, 2-3 mm. Male flowers: rudimentary gynoecium 3-lobed. Female flowers: carpels 3; staminodes small. Fruit follicles pale purplish red but pale yellow to grayish brown when dry, 4-5 mm in diam., oil glands numerous and impressed when dry, apex not beaked. Seeds 3.5-4 mm in diam. Fl. Jun-Aug, fr. Oct-Nov.