China Flora: Tree, up to 30 meters tall, 1 meter in diameter at breast height; bark orange-red, shiny, papery, flaking. Branchlets glabrous, sometimes sparsely covered with resin glands. Leaves ovate, ovate-elliptical or ovate-oblong, 3-8 cm long, apex acuminate or nearly caudal, base rounded or slightly cordate, glabrous above, densely covered with resin glands and sparse long soft hairs below, with irregular acuminate double serrations, 10-14 pairs of lateral veins. Female inflorescence solitary or 2-4 in racemes, oblong or oblong-cylindrical, 3-4 cm long, peduncle about 1 cm long; bract middle lobe oblong or lanceolate, lateral lobes spread, nearly rounded, as long as 1/3 of the middle lobe. Nutlets ovate, 2-3 mm long, membranous wings nearly as wide as the fruit. Flowering period April-May, fruiting period June-July.

It is produced in Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Henan, Shanxi, southern Shaanxi, Gansu, southern Ningxia, Qinghai, Sichuan, western Hubei and northwestern Hunan, and grows in forests on hillsides at an altitude of 1,000-3,400 meters. It is tough and fine-structured, and is used for plywood, joinery, furniture, gun stocks, aircraft propellers, etc. The bark contains tannins and aromatic oils, which can be used to extract tannin and steam birch bark oil; the seeds can be pressed for oil for industrial use.

[translated from Higher Plants of China]