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

General:
Dioecious shrubs, 1-3 m tall, not colonial; branches erect, flexible at base; twigs yellow-green to red-brown, hairy or smooth.

Leaves:
Alternate, simple, oblong, elliptic or lance- to egg-shaped, 3-10 cm long, 1-5 cm wide, lower surface glaucous, smooth or sparsely long soft-hairy to nearly smooth, hairs white, upper surface shiny, smooth or sparsely long soft-hairy to nearly smooth, margins toothed, bases rounded, 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, hairs straight to curly; stamens 2; ovaries 1, smooth; styles 0.6-2.5 mm long.

Fruits:
Capsules which split open to release the seeds, each of which is surrounded by a tuft of hairs; stalks 0.4-1.5 mm long.

Notes:
Vegetative specimens of Salix barclayi are sometimes difficult to separate from S. richardsonii (see Table 3, page 60. This species hybridizes with S. arctica, S. commutata, S. richardsonii and S. stolonifera.