Russia Flora: Deciduous tree up to 15 m tall, 40 cm in diameter, with gray cracked bark. Crown sparse. Young shoots pubescent. Leaves entire, obovate, up to 40 cm long, 25 cm wide, glabrous, green above, glaucous beneath, clustered at the tips of branches; petioles up to 5 cm long. Flowers simultaneously with leaf unfolding. Flowers up to 15 cm in diameter, cup-shaped, fragrant; sepals 3, up to 8 cm long, 4 cm wide, white on the inner side; petals 6-9, up to 11 cm long, 4.5 cm wide, creamy-white, slightly fleshy; stamens numerous, up to 1.8 cm long. Fruit up to 12-15 cm long, compound (consisting of numerous single-seeded follicles sitting on an elongated cone-shaped receptacle). Seeds ovoid, about 1 cm long, with fleshy seed coat. 

Southern Kuril (Kunashir Island).  In mixed forest, solitary or in small groups. The only location in the USSR. Protected. Valuable ornamental plant.  General distribution: Japan-China. Described from Japan.