Deciduous, often spiky tree or shrub, 5-10 m high. The stem is often curved and tilted. The bark is stripping in small fringes, often ridge. Leaves are simple. Lamina is lanceolata, silvery on both sides in young age, later green on the front leaf. The underside is densely covered by trichomes. The flowers are inside yellow, outside silvery, strongly honey-smelling. Flowering in April or May. The fruits are nuts covered by floury flesh. They are yellow-brown with silver trichomes. Shoots: Shoots are silvery, covered with shiny trichomes. Older branches often spiky, later glabrescent, brown to dark red. Natural range: Around Mediterranean Sea, from the Caucasus to China; in our area introduced.