Branches with gray bark; 1-year-old branchlets yellow or russet, glabrous or pilose. Buds ovoid, glabrous. Stipules lanceolate or ovate, small; petiole 2-4 mm; leaf blade elliptic or long elliptic, 1-3.5 × 0.7-1.5 cm, glabrous, abaxially whitish, black when dried, adaxially dull green or slightly purplish, base rounded, rarely broadly cuneate, margin entire, rarely dentate, apex obtuse or rounded. Flowering coetaneous. Male catkin terete, with leaflets at base; bracts green or yellowish green, elliptic, sparsely villous, apex purple. Male flower: adaxial gland ca. 1/2 as long as bracts; stamens 2; filaments glabrous. Female catkin ovoid, with leaflets at base; bracts elliptic, sparsely pubescent. Female flower: gland adaxial; ovary cylindric, glabrous; stipe ca. 1/3 as long as ovary; style short; stigma 2-cleft. Fl. May, fr. Jun. 2n = 38.

Marshes; 300-500 m. Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol [Korea, Mongolia; N Asia, Europe].