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

General:
Dioecious shrubs or trees, 1-11 m tall, not colonial; branches erect, flexible at base; twigs brownish, smooth or sparsely to densely hairy.

Leaves:
Alternate, simple, narrowly elliptic to lance-shaped, 5-17 cm long, 1-3.5 cm wide, lower surface glaucous or not, long soft-hairy, hairs white and rust-coloured, upper surface shiny to highly glossy, smooth or becoming so, margins toothed, bases pointed to rounded, tips long and tail-like; leaf stalks with or without glandular dots at top; stipules leaflike.

Flowers:
Unisexual, lacking sepals and petals, borne in catkins which flower as leaves emerge, the catkins slender to stout, on leafy twigs; floral bracts pale, smooth or hairy, hairs wavy, female bracts deciduous; stamens 4-5; ovaries 1, smooth; styles 0.2-0.8 mm long.

Fruits:
Capsules which split open to release the seeds, each of which is surrounded by a tuft of hairs; stalks 0.8-4 mm long.

Notes:
Two subspecies occur in BC:

1. Leaves glaucous beneath, stomata usually restricted to the lower surface................ ssp. lasiandra (Benth.) E. Murray

1. Leaves not glaucous beneath, stomata abundant on both surfaces................. ssp. caudata (Nutt.) E. Murrray