Shrub or small tree up to 10 m. tall, occasionally flowering as a shrublet; first-year branchlets fulvous-tomentellous, second-year pale brown or greyish-white, stout, older branchlets often with a thick corky bark. Leaf-lamina up to 16 × 10 cm., elliptic to oblanceolate or obovate, rarely lanceolate, lower surface usually densely pubescent, rarely glabrous, apex rounded or emarginate, very rarely apiculate, base cuneate; petiole up to 1·5 cm. long. Inflorescence a 5–12-flowered almost sessile fascicle, usually borne in the axils of fallen leaves, rarely terminating short shoots of very slow growth, exceptionally in the leaf-axils; bracts up to 5 mm. long, subulate; pedicels 5–10 mm. long. Flowers greenish-white, turning yellow with age, usually appearing before the leaves. Calyx up to 3 mm. long, with indistinct teeth, puberulous. Petals 15–22 × 3 mm., linear, minutely puberulous towards the apex outside, otherwise glabrous. Staminal tube 10–15 mm. long, distally expanded, bearded at the throat with long hairs arising from the filaments, otherwise glabrous inside; appendages regularly 2-lobed, about 1·5 mm. long, alternating with the anthers, fused in lower half to form a frill continuing staminal tube beyond the insertion of filaments, glabrous outside or rarely with a few marginal cilia. Ovary 10-locular, glabrous; style 2–2·5 cm. long, glabrous or pilose at base, style-head ovoid-cylindric. Capsule 7 × 15 mm., depressed-globose, shallowly sulcate, leathery, glabrous; aril covering about half of the seed.