Shrubs dwarf. Leaves alternate or subopposite; stipules present; leaf blade linear-lanceolate, rarely to long ovate-elliptic, both surfaces or only abaxially densely white or yellow silky, margin entire. Flowering precocious or coetaneous. Catkins sessile or shortly pedunculate, with leaflets at base; bracts 2-colored. Male flower: glands adaxial; stamens 2, distinct, rarely partly connate; anthers yellow or red. Female flower: ovary sericeous, conspicuously stipitate; style short; stigma long elliptic.