Thicket-forming shrub or small tree, often with several trunks, and with shiny yellow-green leaves, gummy when young. Height: 30 ft (9 m). Diameter: 8 in (20 cm).
Along streams and lakes and in valleys.
Southwestern and central Alaska and Yukon southeast to northwestern California and central Montana; in Alaska to alpine zone above timberline; in northwestern California to 7,000 ft (2,134 m).
Adapted to soils too barren for other trees, this subspecies improves soil conditions by adding organic matter and nitrogen from bacteria in its root nodules.
