Willow Family (Salicaceae). Salix sitchensis is a large shrub or small tree, six to twenty-five feet high. The leaves are alternate, oblonceolate or narrowly ovate, two to five inches long, and usually sharp-pointed. The flowers appear before or with the leaves, on short leafy shoots, males are five centimeters long, and the females are eight centimeters long (Pojar & MacKinnon 1994). The bark is smooth, slightly furrowed, and scaly.