An evergreen tree from 30 to 50 ft high; young shoots glabrous. Leaves oblong or narrowly oval, long and slenderly pointed, tapered at the base, quite toothless, 3 to 8 in. long, 1 to 21⁄2 in. wide, but on vigorous young plants as much as 1 ft long and 3 or 4 in. wide; greyish green, quite glabrous; midrib and veins yellowish, the latter in nine to twelve pairs; stalk 1⁄4 to 3⁄4 in. long. Acorn-cups 3⁄4 to 1 in. wide, densely clustered on a stiff spike 2 to 3 in. long, the acorns almost enclosed.
Native of W. Hupeh and Szechwan, China; introduced for Messrs Veitch by Wilson in 1901. In regard to the individual leaf this is probably the finest of the newer Chinese oaks. But it needs rather warmer conditions than our average climate affords to develop its best qualities. The finest plant in this country grows in the woods at Caerhays, in Cornwall, where it is of erect habit and vigorous growth, a most attractive evergreen. It measures 58 × 51⁄2 ft at 4 ft (1966). It should have shelter from wind. Wilson describes old trees as having a much-branched, wide-spreading, flattened crown.