Shrubs to 3 m tall, much branched. Branchlets chestnut red, glabrous, shiny. Buds lanceolate, small. Stipules obliquely ovate, glandular dentate; petiole 8-10 mm; leaf blade elliptic or obovate-elliptic, abaxially greenish, glabrous, pilose when young, adaxially green, base cuneate, margin with dense, curving, sharp teeth, apex obtuse, acute, or shortly acuminate; lateral veins 10-12 on each side of midvein. Flowering nearly coetaneous. Catkins 2-3 cm; peduncle short, with caducous, scalelike leaflets at base; bracts chestnut colored to nearly black, long ovate, long pubescent. Male flower: gland adaxial; stamens 2; filaments distinct, rarely partly united, downy at base; anthers yellow. Female flower: ovary ovoid, tomentose, stipi-

tate; style ca. 1 mm; stigma short. Capsule brown, ca. 5 mm, sparsely pilose. Fl. May, fr. Jun.

Thickets, riversides; 1700-2700 m. Xinjiang (Tian Shan) [Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan].