Thicket-forming shrub with clustered stems or rarely a tree, with very narrow leaves. Leaves 1.5-4 in (4-10 cm) long, 0.3 in (0.8 cm) wide. Catkins 1-2.5 in (2.5-6 cm) long; with hairy yellow scales. Height: 3-10 ft (1-3 m), sometimes to 20 ft (6 m). Diameter: 5 in (13 cm).
Wet soils, especially riverbanks, sandbars, and silt flats.
Central Alaska east to Ontario and New York, southwest to Mississippi, and west to southern California; also local east to Quebec and Virginia and in northern Mexico; to 8,000 ft (2,438 m).
This hardy species has perhaps the greatest range of all tree willows.
