Leaves are alternate, thinly coriaceous, crenate, deep green and lustrous above, paler beneah.

Petioles are short as 2-5 mm long, often reddish purple, grooved above.

Pale greenish yellow flowers open 1-5 fascicled in the axils of the annotinous shoots in March to April.

It is widely distributed in the warm temperate zone, and one of the principal species of the second layer in the laurisilvae.

The wood is used for utensils, fuels. It is planted for garden trees and hedges. The leaves are offered before the deity in the Shinto religion.

Distribution ; Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu, Ryukyu, Formosa, Korea, China