Shrubs or dwarf trees, usually flat-topped, 0.6-3.5 m tall. Leafy stems slender, unbranched, spine tipped. Leaves alternate; leaf blade abaxially silvery, 2-6(-8) × 0.2-0.4 cm, margin revolute or flat. Fruit brown or yellowish red, ± cylindric, distinctly curved, with 5-7 ribs, 5.5-8(-9) × 3-4 mm, silvery scaly. Endocarp difficult to separate from seed. Seed cylindric, curved, 4-6 mm, surface mat, longitudinally ridged. 2n = 24*.

The flat-topped habit and obviously curved fruit make Hippophae neurocarpa very easy to identify.

● Valley bottoms, flood plains, river banks and terraces; 3400-4400 m. Qinghai, Sichuan, Xizang.