A deciduous shrub 6 to 9 (perhaps more) ft high, with the young branchlets covered thickly with a pure white wool. Leaves of variable size, from the largest, 10 in. long by 4 in. wide, down to others 3 to 4 in. long and 1 in. wide; they are long-pointed, rounded at the base, angularly toothed except at the end; dark green and ultimately glabrous above except on the midrib; covered beneath with a thick wool, at first pure white, then tawny. Panicles branched, terminal on the main shoots, and supplemented by others at the end of short axillary branches. Each portion of the panicle is slender, 3⁄4 to 1 in. in diameter, and 3 to 6 in. long. Flowers 1⁄4 in. long, pale purple, only showing colour at the tip, the corolla-tube and calyx being covered with wool.
Native of China; discovered by Wilson in W. Szechwan, at altitudes around 7,000 to 8,000 ft, and introduced in 1901. It is a vigorous plant, but its chief attraction is the snowy covering of the leaves, shoots, and panicles. It flowers in August.