Salix filistyla C. Wang & P. Y. Fu; S. himalayensis (Andersson) Floderus var. filistyla (C. Wang & P. Y. Fu) C. F. Fang.

Shrubs or trees to more than 3 m tall. Branchlets spreading; 2-year-old branchlets ca. 4 mm thick; juvenile branchlets densely brownish green tomentose. Stipules ovate to lanceolate, pilose, margin dentate; petiole ca. 3 mm, densely downy; leaf blade elliptic, 3-5.5 × 1.5-2.5 cm, abaxially grayish green, adaxially yellowish green, base obtuse or rounded, margin entire, rarely slightly indistinctly dentate, apex acute; lateral veins 8-11 on each side of midvein, white downy later, only veins pilose, or abaxially more pubescent. Flowering precocious or nearly coetaneous. Male catkin unknown. Female catkin cylindric, ca. 5 × 1.3 cm, densely flowered; peduncle ca. 1 cm, with 1-3 leaflets; bracts brown, ovate-lanceolate or lanceolate, ca. 1.8 mm, abaxially long pubescent, adaxially dull brown. Female flower: gland adaxial, shortly terete, square, or flattened square, ca. as long as or shorter than stipe; ovary narrowly ovoid-conical, 4-5 mm, glabrous, adaxially reddish; stipe ca. 0.3-1 mm; style 1-1.5 mm or longer; stigma suberect, 2-cleft. Capsule 6-7 mm. Fl. May-Jun.

Mountain slopes, valleys, thickets, open woods; 2800-3500 m. Xizang [Bhutan, Nepal].