Shrubs creeping. Branches prostrate or slightly ascending; juvenile branchlets villous, glabrescent. Buds globose, small, glabrous. Leaves petiolate; leaf blade ovate-oblong, oblong, or obovate-elliptic, 3-5(-7) × 1.5-2.5(-3.5) mm, abaxially glaucous, sericeous, adaxially green, glabrous or subglabrous, base cuneate, margin entire, apex obtuse or acute. Male catkin terminal, capitate, ca. 5 mm, 10-20-flowered; bracts ovate or subelliptic, ca. 1/2 as long as stamens, abaxially and marginally pilose, adaxially glabrous, apex rounded-truncate or irregularly dentate. Male flower: stamens 2, free, basally pilose; glands 2, linear, equal, ca. 1/2 as long as bracts, adaxial gland occasionally 2-cleft. Female catkin unknown.

Similar to Salix ovatomicrophylla but leaf blade larger, glaucous and sericeous abaxially; catkins numerous flowered; bracts pilose abaxially and at margin; filaments pilose. In the protologue, the specific epithet was spelt "pilosomicrophylla" whereas, in FRPS, it was changed to "trichomicrophylla" with an indication that the former was an error (Greek and Latin words are combined in the epithet, which might be considered linguistically unacceptable). However, there is no mechanism within the ICBN for allowing such a change.

* Moist mountain meadows; circa 4200 m. E Xizang, Yunnan