A small tree or shrub, 4—12 m tall, stem 6—18 cm in diameter. Leaves imparipinnate with 4—6 pairs of leaflets, rachis 10—30 cm long, winged or not, petiole 8—11 cm long, leaflets ovate-oblong, ovate or lanceolate, 5—15 cm x 2.5—8 cm, base unequal, cuneate, apex acute or acuminate, crenate-dentate, lower surface tomentose and distinctly papillose, without domatia. Inflorescence usually terminal, paniculate, up to 15—20 cm (female) or 30—40 cm long (male), branches up to 25 cm long; flowers unisexual, white or pale yellow-green, calyx lobes triangular, petals broadly elliptical or oblong, about 2 mm x 1—1.5 mm, stamens 2 mm long, staminodes 1—1.5 mm long, ovary globose, densely puberulous. Drupe subglobose, about 5 mm diameter, densely puberulous, exocarp separating from mesocarp in ripe fruits.

Astringent, antiseptic and styptic (leaf galls); depurative (leaves and roots); astringent and anthelmintic (stem bark); cholagogue (root bark);

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Used in the treatment of colic, intestinal worms and dysentery and an infusion is drunk for diarrhoea (fruits); used in the treatment of haemoptysis, inflammations, laryngitis, snakebite, stomach-ache and traumatic fractures (decoction of leaves and roots); in the treatment of coughs, dysentery, fever, jaundice, malaria and rheumatism (seed); used in poultices to cure sores, and also prescribed in diarrhoea and sometimes paralysis, and as a frequent ingredient in polyherbal prescriptions for diabetes mellitus (leaf galls); applied to treat burns (dried leaf galls); an excrescence produced on the leaf by an insect Melaphis chinensis or M. paitan (this report probably refers to the galls produced by the plant in response to the insect) is used in the treatment of persistent cough with blood, chronic diarrhoea, spontaneous sweating, night sweats, bloody stool, urorrhoea and bloody sputum, and applied externally to burns, bleeding due to traumatic injuries, haemorrhoids and ulcers in the mouth.

Contraindicated in patients with cough due to Wind Cold or dysentery due to Damp Heat.

Jing-Nuan Wu. An Illustrated Chinese Materia Medica. P: 554, Oxford University Press, Inc.2005.