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

General:
Dioecious shrubs, 0.2-1.5 m tall, not colonial; branches erect, flexible at base; twigs yellow- to red-brown, smooth to sparsely hairy.

Leaves:
Alternate, simple, narrowly elliptic to elliptic, 2-7.5 cm long, 0.8-3.5 cm wide, lower surface glau cous, smooth, upper surface shiny or dull, smooth or minutely hairy on midrib, margins entire to toothed, bases rounded, tips pointed; leaf stalks without glandular dots at top; stipules leaflike or rudimentary.

Flowers:
Unisexual, lacking sepals and petals, borne in catkins which flower as leaves emerge, the catkins stout, on leafy twigs; floral bracts dark, smooth or hairy, hairs wavy; stamens 2; ovaries 1, smooth; styles 0.3-1.2 mm long.

Fruits:
Capsules which split open to release the seeds, each of which is surrounded by a tuft of hairs; stalks 0.3-1.5 mm long.