Narrowly conical tree to 20 m high; bark grey, fissured; young shoots glabrous. Buds ellipsoid, viscid. Leaves ovate, broadly ovate, elliptic-ovate, or deltoid-ovate, 5–16 cm long, 4–12 cm wide, both surfaces with hairs restricted to veins, glossy dark green above, whitish green below; apex long acuminate; base broadly cuneate or rounded; margins crenulate. Catkins appearing before leaves; catkin-scales palmately laciniate. Male catkins 12–20 cm long; stamens 20–40; anthers crimson. Female catkins 10–15 cm long. Capsule dehiscing via 3 or 4 valves. Flowers spring.
GipP, HSF. Native to China, often grown in cultivation, plants apparently self-propagating and potentially forming a naturalised population in damp forest near Loch Valley, north of Noojee.
Sometimes treated in Australian floras as P. aff.yunnanensis as numerous cultivars are grown in Australia, some of which are reportedly hybridised with P. deltoidies Marshall. However, plants naturalised in Victoria appear to accord with the description given for P. yunnanensis by shu (1999).
