[3] Quercus variabilis is a medium-sized to large deciduous tree growing to 25–30 metres (82–98 feet) tall with a rather open crown, and thick corky bark with deep fissures and marked by sinuous ridges.

The leaves are simple, acuminate, variable in size, 8–20 centimetres (3+1⁄4–7+3⁄4 inches) long and 2–8 cm (3⁄4–3+1⁄4 in) broad, with a serrated margin with each vein ending in a distinctive fine hair-like tooth; they are green above and silvery below with dense short pubescence.

[3] The flowers are wind-pollinated catkins produced in mid spring, maturing about 18 months after pollination; the fruit is a globose acorn, 1.5–2 cm (5⁄8–3⁄4 in) diameter, two-thirds enclosed in the acorn cup, which is densely covered in soft 4–8 millimetres (3⁄16–5⁄16 in) long 'mossy' bristles.

[3][4] The species can be found in evergreen and deciduous forests below 3,000 m (9,800 ft), in the Chinese provinces of Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Liaoning, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Yunnan, Zhejiang, as well as in Japan and Korea.

For pharmaceutical grade production of Ganoderma lucidum, known in China as ‘the mushroom of immortality,’ the dead wood logs of Q. variabilis are used.