Shrubs dwarf. Branchlets russet or chestnut colored; juvenile branchlets downy, when mature yellowish, glabrous. Stipules membranous, usually caducous; petiole short, tomentulose; leaf blade ovate, elliptic, or lanceolate, 0.5-3 cm × 3-10 mm, abaxially grayish white, when mature glabrous, adaxially green, base broadly cuneate, margin entire, apex shortly acuminate. Flowering serotinous. Catkins short, thick, 5-10(-20) mm, with scalelike leaflets at base; bracts oblong or obovate, densely gray downy, rarely glabrous, apex obtuse. Male flower: gland entire or 2-or 3-lobed; stamens 2; filaments partly connate or connate throughout, base downy; anthers yellow. Female flower: ovary ovoid-conical, 3-4 mm, tomentose; stipe shorter than gland; style short; stigma entire or 2-lobed. Capsule yellowish to russet, tomentose. Fl. May, fr. Jun.