Salix balfouriana

Salix balfouriana is a shrub or tree up to 5 meters high with reddish black and tomentose hairy young twigs. Biennial twigs are glabrous or slightly hairy. The buds are black-brown and also finely hairy. The leaveshave a 1 to 1.5 centimeter long, finely hairy stem. The leaf blade is 6 to 8, rarely 12 inches long and 2 to 4 inches wide. In young shoots, lengths of up to 18 centimeters are rarely achieved. The blade is elliptical, elliptically elongated or obovate-elongated, with a pointed or blunt tip, rounded or broadly wedge-shaped base and entire or glandular serrated leaf margin. The upper surface of young leaves is rusty brown and tomentose, while older leaves are glabrous and whitish. The underside is dark green, glabrous or downy hairy along the leaf veins. Fallen leaves from the previous year are gray-brown. Male inflorescences are 2 to rarely 4 centimeters long and 6 to 10 millimeters in diameter catkins are formed. The peduncle is short or absent and may have one or two small leaves at the base. The bracts are obovate-oblong, with a rounded, truncated or notched tip. The upper side of the leaf is glabrous or slightly hairy, the underside is reddish yellow at the tip, hairy and ciliate. Male flowers have an adaxially and an abaxially arranged nectar gland. The two detached stamenshave almost completely hairy stamens and yellow or rarely red anthers. …

The natural range is in thickets and on mountain slopes at heights of 2800 to 4000 meters in the Chinese province of Sichuan and in the northwest of the Chinese province of Yunnan.