DARK GREEN,very hollow but fibrous branches,dense,long,thick,responds very well to bending ,topping and stripping. large right out of the gate like CanPlyPlds. had some volunteers pop up outside and they did very well the first two months in below freezing without protection and with care that bordered on neglect.Strong and willing to survive. The volunteers were dug up(ranging from 6"-24" tall) and put through transplant hell on a long and brutal hike that consisted of alot of brush breaking and some serious thrashing about.they were in a large plastic tote ,like a large ice chest. Went into a new totally overgrown area with the tote,500' of waterline,a couple of pitbulls and some beer. The hike sucked because the creek was not running where it was when we found it two years ago.Three miles straight down thru poison oak thicketts and berry bushes ripe with thorns,dead brush that would break underneath you and send you crashing and bouncing down the cliff ,finally decided to turn around and the tote became a brush breaker on the way back up. finally found the h20 and the volunteers were in great shape after a very long day that started by being dug up ,stuck in containers,thrown into a dark container,then thrashed and basically beat the fuck out of. THEY ARE RESILIENT to say the least.