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General:
Dwarf shrubs, 2-10 cm tall, layering; branches decumbent or trailing, flexible at base; twigs yellowish, smooth or sparsely hairy.
Leaves:
Alternate, simple, very narrowly elliptic to elliptic, lance- or egg-shaped, 2-4.4 cm long, 0.7-2 cm wide, lower surface glaucous, sparsely long soft-hairy to nearly smooth, hairs white, upper surface dull or shiny, long soft-hairy to nearly smooth, margins entire, bases and tips pointed to rounded; leaf stalks without glandular dots at top; stipules absent, 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 tawny to light brown, hairs straight or wavy; stamens 2; ovaries 1, hairy; styles 0.4-1.6 mm long.
Fruits:
Capsules which split open to release the seeds, each of which is surrounded by a tuft of hairs; stalks 0.2-0.8 mm long.
Notes:
This species is often included in S. arctica but it seems to be sufficiently distinct to warrant specific rank. Its exact distribution in S BC is not yet known. It sometimes has its filaments and anthers flushed with purple. For a separation from S. arctica and S. cascadensis see Table 1, page 60.
Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
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