Shrubs, rarely small trees. Branchlets dull brown, shiny. Buds russet, smooth. Petiole to 1 cm, glabrous; leaf blade oblong to obovate, to 3.5 × 1.7 cm, abaxially grayish green, glabrescent, adaxially dull green, glabrous, base attenuate, margin entire, apex obtuse, acute, or mucronate. Male catkin ca. 1.5 cm × 5 mm, pedunculate; bracts oblong or obovate-oblong, sparsely ciliate. Male flower: stamens 2; filaments villous at base, slightly longer than bracts; glands adaxial and abaxial, narrowly oblong, 1/4-1/3 as long as bracts, abaxial gland small, sometimes absent. Female catkin terete, 2-3 cm × ca. 8 mm, densely flowered; rachis brown pubescent; bracts as in male catkin, ca. 1/2 as long as ovary. Female flower: gland adaxial; ovary densely pilose, sessile; style short; stigma ovate. Capsule ovoid-conical, pilose. Fl. Apr, fr. May.