Shrubs to 3 m tall. Branchlets usually erect, dark brown or blackish. Petiole 5-12 mm, glabrous; leaf blade elliptic or ovate-orbicular, rarely obovate-orbicular, 3-5 × 2-3.2 cm, glabrous, abaxially whitish, adaxially dull green, base rounded or broadly cuneate, margin remotely denticulate, rarely entire when young, apex obtuse, rarely rounded or acute to rounded-obtuse. Male catkin 1-2.5 cm; peduncle short; rachis villous; bracts oblong, glabrous, apex 2-notched. Male flower: stamens 2; filaments ca. 3 × as long as bracts, villous at base; anthers globose. Fruiting catkin 3-6 cm; bracts broadly elliptic-oblong, glabrous. Female flower: glands 1 or 2, adaxial and abaxial, or abaxial gland absent; ovary ellipsoid-cylindric, glabrous, sessile; style thin, ca. 1.5 mm; stigmas 2. Capsule with persistent style, 6-8 mm. Fl. May, fr. Jun-Aug.