Shrubs. Branchlets villous at first, glabrescent. Buds glabrous. Stipules ca. 5 mm, abaxially tomentose, margin glandular serrate; petiole ca. as long as stipules, tomentose; leaf blade narrowly elliptic or narrowly obovate-elliptic, ca. 7 × 2.5 cm, abaxially densely gray tomentose, adaxially villous along veins, base cuneate, margin glandular serrate, apex acute or obtuse; lateral veins 10(-12) on each side of midvein. Flowering coetaneous. Catkins terminal, 4-6 × 1-1.5 cm, densely flowered; rachis tomentose; bracts obovate-flabelliform, large, ca. 5 mm, abaxially white silky, margin indistinctly dentate, apex truncate. Male flower: adaxial gland long elliptic, abaxial gland sublinear; stamens 2, distinct; filaments downy throughout. Female catkin stout, to 16 × 2 cm in fruit. Female flower: adaxial gland linear, ca. 1 mm, abaxial gland small or absent; ovary narrowly ovoid, densely white tomentose, sessile; style ca. 4-5 mm, basally tomentose, completely divided, divergent; stigma entire or 2-lobed. Capsule ovoid, to 9 mm, tomentose, usually with persistent style, sessile. Fl. Jun-Jul, fr. Aug-Sep.

Mountains; 2600-3400 m. E Xizang, NW Yunnan [Nepal]