General:
Dioecious shrubs, 0.3-3 (-6) m tall, not colonial, erect or decumbent; branches erect, flexible at base; twigs red- to yellow-brown, sparsely to densely hairy.

Leaves:
Alternate, simple, narrowly elliptic to lance- to egg-shaped, 3-8 cm long, 1-4 cm wide, lower surface glaucous, long soft-woolly, silky or sparsely long soft-hairy, often becoming nearly smooth, hairs white, upper surface shiny, long soft-hairy or sparsely long soft-hairy to nearly smooth, entire, bases pointed to 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 pale, hairs wavy; stamens 2; ovaries 1, hairy; styles 0.3-1.4 mm long.

Fruits:
Capsules which split open to release the seeds, each of which is surrounded by a tuft of hairs; stalks 0.3-2.8 mm long.

Notes:
The varieties villosa and acutifolia intergrade in northern BC where they overlap in the Haines Road region. They both sometimes appear to hybridize with S. arctica.

Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia