Salix lapponum, the downy willow, is a low, much branched shrub (to 1.5 metres) having a wide distribution in Northern Europe, eastwards to the Altai and western Siberia, and is found as far south as the Pyrenees and Bulgaria. In Scotland it can be found on rocky mountain slopes and cliffs, generally at altitudes between 200 and 900 metres. As described in Stace and BSBI Salix lapponum has the following characteristics: