Salix pellita is a shrub or small tree with long, narrow, alternate leaves. Leaf margins are entire or slightly irregular, but not finely and regularly toothed. Undersides of leaves are densely hairy and strongly whitened and leaf margins are often inrolled, especially toward the base. The young branchlets are glabrous.

Salix pellita is a northern species, extending south only to the northern portions of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin. It is known in Wisconsin only in the Apostle Islands.

The willow species are quite variable and difficult to distinguish and any "shortcuts" around the proven keys are likely to result in frequent errors. See the more thorough keys in Michigan Flora vol 2.