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

General:
Dioecious shrubs, 1-5 m tall, not colonial; branches erect, flexible at base, strongly glaucous or not; twigs yellowish to violet, smooth or hairy.

Leaves:
Alternate, simple, strap-shaped to narrowly elliptic, 3-7.5 cm long, 0.7-1.4 cm wide, lower surface glaucous, silky to nearly smooth, hairs white and rust-coloured, upper surface shiny, silky to nearly smooth, margins entire, bases and tips pointed; leaf stalks without glandular dots at top; stipules absent.

Flowers:
Unisexual, lacking sepals and petals, borne in catkins which flower as leaves emerge, or just before them, more or less globe-shaped, on leafy twigs; floral bracts pale, smooth or hairy, hairs wavy or straight; stamens 2; ovaries 1, hairy; styles 0.1-0.2 mm long.

Fruits:
Capsules which split open to release the seeds, each of which is surrounded by a tuft of hairs; stalks 1-2.8 mm long.

Notes:
Vegetative plants of this species are sometimes difficult to distinguish from S. petiolaris. The branches of S. geyeriana do not always show the characteristic glaucousness, especially on Vancouver Island and the branches of S. petiolaris are sometimes sparsely glaucous.