Trees, to 30 m tall, to 80 cm d.b.h. Bark pale gray to dark gray. Young twigs, buds, petioles, leaf blade abaxial surfaces, and brachyblasts densely reddish brown, brown, or white tomentulose. Petiole 1.5-3 cm, without a stipular scar; leaf blade oblong-elliptic, elliptic-ovate, or narrowly ovate, 17-23 × 6-11 cm, thickly leathery, abaxially coppery to gray tomentulose, adaxially deep green and glossy, secondary veins 16-26, ends slender, divaricate, and netted near margin, reticulate veins dense, base broadly cuneate, obtuse, or subcaudate and usually asymmetrical, apex acuminate to shortly acuminate. Brachyblasts ca. 5 mm in diam., with 3 or 4 bract scars. Tepals 9-12, pale yellowish green, base purplish; outer 3 tepals broadly obovate, 6-7 cm; tepals of middle and inner whorls obovate, narrower and smaller. Stamens ca. 50, 2.5-3 cm; filaments dark purple, 7-10 mm; anthers 1.5-2 cm. Gynophore 1.7-2 cm, silvery tomentulose; gynoecium 2-3 cm; carpels ca. 5 mm; ovaries narrowly ovoid, ca. 3 mm, adnate to torus at base; ovules ca. 8 per carpel. Fruit 7-20 cm; mature carpels long ellipsoid, 1-2.4 cm. Fl. Mar-May, fr. Sep-Oct. 2n = 38.