E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

General:
Dioecious shrubs, 0.2-3 m tall, not colonial; branches erect, flexible at base; twigs yellowish to red-brown, sparsely to densely hairy.

Leaves:
Alternate, simple, narrowly oblong to broadly elliptic, 1-10 cm long, 0.5-4.4 cm wide, lower surface not glaucous, smooth or short-woolly to long soft-hairy or nearly smooth, hairs white, upper surface dull, smooth or long soft-hairy to nearly smooth, margins entire to toothed, bases rounded to heart-shaped, tips pointed to tapered; leaf stalks without glandular dots at top; stipules leaflike.

Flowers:
Unisexual, lacking sepals and petals, borne in catkins which flower as leaves emerge, the catkins stout, on leafy twigs; floral bracts dark or pale, hairs straight or wavy; stamens 2; ovaries 1, smooth or rarely hairy; styles 0.5-1.5 mm long.

Fruits:
Capsules which split open to release the seeds, each of which is surrounded by a tuft of hairs; stalks 0.3-2 mm long.

Notes:
This species has been reported to hybridize with S. barclayi.