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

General:
Dioecious shrubs, 1-6 m tall, not colonial; branches erect, flexible at base; twigs yellowish, sparsely to moderately hairy.

Leaves:
Alternate, simple, strap-shaped or very narrowly elliptic, 4-11 cm long, 0.6-2 cm wide, lower surface glaucous, silky to nearly smooth, hairs white and rust-coloured, upper surface dull or shiny, smooth or hairy, margins entire to toothed, bases and tips pointed; leaf stalks without glandular dots at top; stipules absent or rudimentary.

Flowers:
Unisexual, lacking sepals and petals, borne in catkins which flower as leaves emerge or just before them, the catkins stout, unstalked or on leafy twigs; floral bracts dark, hairs straight; stamens 2; ovaries 1, hairy; styles 0-0.3 mm long.

Fruits:
Capsules which split open to release the seeds, each of which is surrounded by a tuft of hairs; stalks 1.5-4 mm long.

Notes:
Entire-leaved forms of this species are sometimes difficult to separate from S. geyeriana. See the latter species for comments.