Lithocarpus howii Chun

Trees 10-15 m tall. Branchlets of current year terete, densely pubescent; branchlets of 2 or 3 year's growth with scars of bud scales and leaf blades, sparsely lenticellate. Petiole 1.5-3.5 cm; leaf blade obovate-elliptic to oblong, 12-20 × 4-7 cm, thickly papery, concolorous, when young abaxially with stellate hairs especially on axils of veins, base cuneate, margin shallowly undulate to obtusely dentate, apex obtuse to acute; secondary veins 15-18 on each side of midvein, ending in teeth; tertiary veins abaxially conspicuous. Inflorescences androgynous, spicate; ca. 10 cm. Female inflorescence with cupules in clusters of 3(-5), rarely solitary. Infructescence 2-3 cm; rachis 6-8 mm thick. Cupule pear-shaped to subglobose, 5-6 × 4.5-5.5 cm including bracts, completely enclosing nut, wall 1-2 mm thick; bracts clawlike, basally reflexed, apically erect. Nut subglobose, 3-3.5 × ca. 4 cm, apex ± flat, wall 6-10 mm thick but basally ca. 1.5 cm thick, horny; scar covering more than 1/2 of nut, convex. Fl. May, fr. Jul-Aug.

SW Guangdong (Yangchun Xian), Hainan

* Broad-leaved evergreen forests; 1000-1400 m.