Salix purpurea Linnaeus var. stipularis Franchet, Nouv. Arch. Mus. Hist. Nat., ser. 2 (Pl. David. 1: 284). 1884; S. mongolica (Franchet) Siuzev f. bicolor Y. L. Chang & Skvortzov; S. mongolica f. latifolia Nasarow; S. mongolica f. sericea Y. L. Chang & Skvortzov.

Shrubs or trees to 8 m tall; bark yellowish gray to dull gray. Branchlets slender. Buds brownish or yellowish brown, ovoid, glabrous. Stipules linear or linear-lanceolate, to 1.2 cm, on shoots to 3 cm, margin glandular dentate; petiole (0.7-)0.8-1.2 cm; leaf blade lanceolate or linear-lanceolate, 8-15 cm × 5-10 mm, abaxially glaucous, adaxially green, attenuate toward both ends, or broader distally, margin glandular serrate, revolute. Flowering precocious or nearly coetaneous. Male catkin terete, 3-3.5 cm × 2-3 mm, sessile, with 2 oblong scalelike leaflets at base; bracts obovate, long pubescent, apex black. Male flower: stamens 2; filaments connate, basally downy; anthers yellow. Female catkin 3.5-4 cm × ca. 5 mm; bracts ovate, long pubescent, apex black. Female flower: gland as in male flower; ovary ovoid-conical, pubescent, sessile; style short; stigma 2-cleft. Fl. May, fr. May-Jun.

Grown to protect embankments and to stabilize sand; used for weaving wicker articles.

* Shores of rivers or lakes, damp places on plains. Gansu, Hebei (Yutian), Henan, Shaanxi, Shanxi