Yinlumei belongs to the Hamamelidaceae Family, with the Latin name of Shaniodendron subaequalum. Yinlumei was first discovered in late 1950s of the 20th century and is formally named as a new genus of the Hamamelidaceae Family in 1992. At present it exists only in Zhejiang Province, east of China.

Yinlumei is a relict plant of the tertiary period and called "living fossil" together with ginkgo. It is a sort of small deciduous arbor and can attain the height of up to about 6 meters. It mainly grows in shaws on hillsides 100 to 700 meters above sea level. Yinlumei bears white flowers but without petals. The filaments of the flowers sag like threads. It blossoms every other year with male flowers a week earlier than the female ones.