Coyote willow – Salix exigua

Pronunciation: Say-liks ecks-ij-yew-uh

Leaf: Alternate, simple, lanceolate to linear, 2 - 5 inches long and very narrow, entire or with a few scattered teeth, green to gray-green above, paler and may be hairy below.

Flower: Species is dioecious; 1 - 2 ½ inches long, fuzzy catkins on a slender 1 inch stem, yellowish white, appearing in spring with the leaves.

Fruit: Small (¼ inch), long-pointed capsules in long, narrow clusters; each capsule contains numerous small fuzzy seeds.

Twig: Slender, pale green to tan, may be reddish in winter, fuzzy or not; buds covered by a single cap-like scale.

Bark: Silvery gray to gray-green, becoming shallowly fissured with time.

Form: A thicket forming shrub with numerous small diameter stems, spreads by underground root suckering, may reach up to 25 feet tall.

Looks like: arroyo willow - purpleosier willow - Lemmon's willow - Goodding's willow

Salix exigua - sandbar willow Latin name or Celtic "sal" (near) and "lis" (water) / little or weak

https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=42782