General:
Dioecious shrubs, 0.2-1.5 m tall, not colonial; branches decumbent or erect, flexible at base; twigs red-brown, densely hairy.

Leaves:
Alternate, simple; narrowly oblong to egg-shaped, 1-4 cm long, 0.5-1.6 cm wide, lower surface glaucous, long soft-hairy or long-silky, hairs white, upper surface shiny, long soft-hairy to nearly smooth, margins entire, bases rounded to pointed, tips pointed; leaf stalks without glandular dots at top; stipules rudimentary or leaflike.

Flowers:
Unisexual, lacking sepals and petals, borne in catkins which flower as leaves emerge, the catkins stout to globe-shaped, on leafy twigs; floral bracts pale, hairs wavy or straight; stamens 2; ovaries 1, hairy; styles 0.5-1.5 mm long.

Fruits:
Capsules which split open to release the seeds, each of which is surrounded by a tuft of hairs; stalks 0-0.5 mm long.

Notes:
The taxon, sometimes treated as S. brachycarpa ssp. niphoclada, is treated as S. niphoclada in this work. See the latter species for further discussion. Putative hybrids with S. glauca var. villosa have been reported.

Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia