Shrubs, 1-6 m. Stems: branches gray-brown to red-brown, strongly to weakly glaucous, glabrous; branchlets yellow-brown to red-brown, (weakly glaucous), glabrous or sparsely to moderately densely velvety or tomentose. Leaves: stipules absent, rudimentary, or foliaceous on early ones, foliaceous on late ones, (2.5-9 mm), apex rounded or convex; petiole convex to flat, or shallowly grooved adaxially, 5-11 mm, tomentose or velvety adaxially; largest medial blade lorate, oblanceolate, or elliptic, 55-96 × 15-34 mm, 2-3.7 times as long as wide, base convex, margins slightly revolute, entire, sinuate or serrulate, apex acuminate to acute, abaxial surface glaucous, sparsely pubescent to moderately densely tomentose or glabrous, hairs (white, sometimes also ferruginous), straight or curved, adaxial slightly glossy, sparsely tomentose to glabrescent; proximal blade margins entire or serrulate; juvenile blade reddish, very densely tomentose or puberulent to glabrescent abaxially, hairs white, sometimes also ferruginous. Catkins flowering as or just before leaves emerge; staminate stout, 17-30 × 7-9 mm, flowering branchlet 1.5-5 mm; pistillate very densely flowered, stout to slender, 17-42 × 6-11 mm, flowering branchlet 1.5-3 mm; floral bract brown or bicolor, 0.8-1.6 mm, apex rounded to truncate, abaxially hairy throughout or proximally, hairs wavy or straight. Staminate flowers: adaxial nectary narrowly oblong, oblong, or ovate, 0.3-0.8 mm; filaments connate less to more than 1/2 their lengths; anthers purple turning yellow, ellipsoid, shortly cylindrical, or globose, 0.36-0.44 mm. Pistillate flowers: adaxial nectary oblong, or narrowly oblong to flask-shaped, 0.2-0.6 mm; stipe 1-1.7(-2.4) mm; ovary pyriform, beak sometimes slightly bulged below styles; ovules 12 per ovary; styles 0.1-0.6 mm; stigmas flat, abaxially non-papillate with rounded or pointed tip, 0.1-0.3 mm. Capsules 2.4-3.6 mm.
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