Shrubs to 1.5 m tall. Branchlets brownish, glabrous. Buds subglobose, glabrous. Stipules obliquely ovate or lanceolate, caducous, margin dentate; petiole short, enlarged at base, notched, at first pubescent, glabrescent; leaf blade elliptic or oblong-obovate, of 1 color, abaxially whitish, glabrous, base cuneate or rounded, margin serrate, apex shortly acuminate, usually oblique; veins conspicuous abaxially. Flowering precocious or

coetaneous. Male catkin cylindric, 2-3 × 0.8-1 cm, sessile; bracts brownish, ovate, villous. Male flower: stamens 2; filaments free, 4-5 mm. Fruiting catkin elongated; peduncle short, with leaflets. Capsule cylindric, glabrous, shortly stipitate or subsessile. Fl. Jun, fr. Jul.

Valleys; 3300-3400 m. Xinjiang (Taxkorgan Tajik Zizhixian) [Afghanistan, Tajikistan].