Authors: Pursh  

Botanical Description

Spreading habit with short thick branches, sometimes reaching 75cm in height, having the general appearance of an upright, large leaved form of S. reticulata. Leaves obovate or elliptic, 4-8 X 2-6cm, obtuse, base cuneate, crenate, upper surface pubescent at first then glabrous dark green, impressed reticulate, lower surface densely covered with milky white silky hairs, petioles long. Catkins appearing after the leaves on short lateral shoots bearing a few large leaves, the males 1.5-2cm long, scales blunt, obovate, pale or red-brown-hairy. An arctic alpine species from the Altai and Baikal mountains and eastern North America with a closely related species in the Rocky Mountains. In moist situations among rocks and on screes, most frequently on limestone.