Japanese name: ミヤマヤナギ（深山柳） Scientific name:Salix reinii
[Overview]
A deciduous shrub 0.3–2 m tall, found in alpine to subalpine zones.
At lower elevations some plants reach as much as 5 m.
The branches are brown and hairless.
Leaves are simple and alternate, 3–9 cm long and 1.5–5 cm wide, varying widely from elliptic to round.
The upper surface of the leaf is slightly glossy, and the underside is powdery white.
The leaf margins have serrations that curl toward the underside.
Young leaves are covered with fine hairs.
The petiole is 1.3–2 cm long.
It is dioecious.
The flowers are densely borne on cylindrical catkins that appear at the same time as the leaves unfold, with 3–5 small leaves at the base of each catkin.
Male catkins are 2.5–6 cm long and 1–1.2 cm across.
Female catkins are 2.5–5 cm long and 0.5–0.7 cm across.
The flowers have no petals.
The fruit is a capsule that splits open when ripe, releasing seeds wrapped in cottony hairs called ryujo (willow cotton).
