The fruits develop in the summer on 25 cm long catkins, hanging from the distinctly differently textured green foliage.

The alternate deciduous leaves are pinnately compound, bearing odd numbers of elliptic-oblong pinnately-veined leaflets with serrate margins.

The tree grows rapidly under optimal conditions, easily reaching 70 feet with substantial spreading branches.

Forests on mountain slopes or riverbanks; near sea level to 1500 m. Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Liaoning, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Yunnan, Zhejiang, Japan, Korea.

[3] Pterocarya stenoptera propagates readily from seed that has received approximately three months of cold moist stratification.