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

General:
Dwarf shrubs, 1-4 cm tall, forming rhizomatous mats; branches erect, flexible at base; twigs yellowish, smooth.

Leaves:
Alternate, simple, narrowly elliptic to elliptic, 9-26 mm long, 3.8-7.5 mm wide, lower surface glaucous, smooth or sparsely long soft-hairy, hairs white, upper surface shiny, smooth or sparsely long soft-hairy, margins entire, bases and tips pointed; leaf stalks without glandular dots at top; stipules absent.

Flowers:
Unisexual, lacking sepals and petals, borne in catkins which flower as leaves emerge, the catkins stout, on leafy twigs; floral bracts dark, hairs wavy or straight; stamens 2; ovaries 1, smooth or hairy; styles 0.3-1 mm long.

Fruits:
Capsules which split open to release the seeds, each of which is surrounded by a tuft of hairs; stalks 0-0.6 mm long.

Notes:
A phase of this species with smooth ovaries has been named var. thompsonii Brayshaw.