Salix sphaeronymphoides Y. L. Chou

Trees to 10 m tall. Branchlets brown, slightly pilose or subglabrous, glabrescent. Petiole 2-3 mm, pubescent; leaf blade lanceolate, 3-5.5 × 0.8-1.5 cm, abaxially glaucous, adaxially dull green, both surfaces glabrous, sparsely long pubescent when young, base cuneate, margin serrulate, apex shortly acuminate. Male catkin unknown. Female catkin 1.7-2.2 cm × 4-5 mm; peduncle 5-7 mm, with 2 or 3 normal leaflets; rachis densely downy; bracts greenish brown, ovate-orbicular, 1/3-1/2 as long as ovary, ciliate, abaxially glabrous, adaxially sparsely long pubescent, apex rounded. Female flower: gland adaxial, broad; ovary ovoid, ca. 2 mm, pilose only at base, subsessile; style short, 2-lobed; stigma 2-lobed. Capsule 3.5-4 mm, glabrous or only base pilose. Fl. May, fr. May-Jun.

* Open or scattered coniferous forests. NW Sichuan, E Xizang, Yunnan