Shrubs, 1-5 m. Stems: branches usually flexible at base, some-times brittle, yellow-brown, red-brown, or gray-brown, glabrous, slightly glossy or dull; branchlets yellow-brown or red-brown, glabrous, slightly or highly glossy. Leaves: stipules absent or rudimentary; petiole shallowly to deeply grooved adaxially, 3-13 mm, with pairs of spherical glands distally or throughout, glabrous adaxially; largest medial blade hypostomatous or hemiamphistomatous, narrowly oblong, very narrowly elliptic, elliptic, lanceolate, or narrowly ovate, 43-110 × 9-33 mm, 2.4-6 times as long as wide, base convex or cuneate, margins flat, serrulate, apex acuminate, caudate, or acute, abaxial surface usually not glaucous, sometimes thinly so (appearing pale green), slightly glossy, glabrous, adaxial highly glossy, glabrous; proximal blade margins serrulate or entire; juvenile blade reddish or yellowish green, glabrous abaxially. Catkins: staminate (stout), 25-53 × 12-16 mm, flowering branchlet 5-14 mm; pistillate (fruiting in autumn, often persistent) moderately densely to loosely flowered, stout to globose, 17-42(-65 in fruit) × 11-22 mm, flowering branchlet 5-32(-65 in fruit) mm; floral bract (sometimes greenish tawny), 1.2-4 mm, apex acute, rounded, or truncate, glandular-toothed, abaxially moderately densely hairy, hairs straight or wavy. Staminate flowers: abaxial nectary 0.5-1.1 mm, adaxial nectary oblong or ovate, 0.4-1.1 mm, nectaries distinct or connate and cup-shaped; stamens 3-9; filaments distinct or basally connate, hairy on proximal 1/2 or basally; anthers ellipsoid or shortly cylindrical, 0.5-0.7 mm. Pistillate flowers: adaxial nectary ovate, oblong, or flask-shaped, 0.3-1.1 mm, shorter than stipe; stipe 1.2-2.4 mm; ovary pyriform to obclavate, beak slightly bulged below or abruptly tapering to styles; ovules 12-16 per ovary; styles connate, 0.3-1 mm; stigmas flat, abaxially non-papillate with rounded tip, or slenderly cylindrical, 0.4-0.7 mm. Capsules 7-12 mm. 2n = 76.
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