General: Dioecious shrubs, 1-5 m tall, not colonial; branches erect, flexible at base; twigs red- to yellow-brown, sparsely hairy or smooth.
Leaves: Alternate, simple, strap-shaped to narrowly oblong, 4-8.5 cm long, 0.8-2.5 cm wide, lower surface not glaucous, smooth or hairy when young, hairs white and rust-coloured, upper surface highly glossy, smooth or hairy when young, margins toothed or entire, bases rounded to wedge-shaped, tips pointed; leaf stalks without glandular dots at top; stipules rudimentary or leaflike.
Flowers: Unisexual, lacking sepals and petals, borne in catkins which flower as leaves emerge, the catkins stout, on leafy twigs; floral bracts pale, smooth or hairy, hairs wavy; stamens 2; ovaries 1, hairy; styles 0.8-1.2 mm long.
Fruits: Capsules which split open to release the seeds, each of which is surrounded by a tuft of hairs; stalks 0.8-2 mm long.
Wet to moist riverbanks, slough margins, marshes, fens and rocky slopes from the montane to subalpine zones; common in S BC east of the Coast-Cascade Mountains, rare northward; N to S YT and S NT, E to PQ and S to MN, ND and WA.
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range. (Updated August, 2013)
