A deciduous shrub up to 20 ft high, devoid of down in all its parts; young shoots reddish; winter buds elongated. Leaves ovate, oval, or obovate, 11⁄2 to 41⁄2 in. long, 3⁄4 to 21⁄4 in. wide; margins set with fine incurved teeth, the base broadly wedge-shaped or rounded, the apex slenderly pointed; dull green; chief veins in four to seven pairs. Flowers yellow, produced in thin, forked cymes, 3 or 4 in. wide and long. Fruit composed of four (rarely five) parts, each part furnished with a wing 1⁄3 in. long, the whole fruit nearly 1 in. wide, red, showing when split the yellow-coated seed.
Native of central and western China, introduced by Wilson in 1900. It appears to be closely allied to E. latifolius, which is, however, distinct in its larger, thinner leaves, more often five-parted flowers, larger fruits with shorter wings, and longer winter buds. A plant in the Mitchell Drive at Westonbirt is attractive even before the autumn colour sets in, on account of the purplish red tinge of the leathery leaves.