FIELD ID CHARACTERISTICS:
Twigs in winter conspicuously red, yellowish or green. Willows root easily, making them popular for use in stream restoration projects.
Synonym(s): Salix ambigua, Salix denudata, Salix dubia, Salix falcata, Salix flavovirens, Salix ligustrina, Salix ludoviciana, Salix purshiana
Description: Deciduous small tree, to 15 m high.
Leaves: Alternate, finely toothed, narrowly lance-shaped or sickle-shaped leaves, 12 cm long and 1 to 2 cm wide. Leaves dark green and shiny with stipules sometimes present at base of leaves; greenish beneath.
Flowers/Fruit: Male and female flowers on separate catkins. Fruit a pod-bearing seed attached to a cottony mass for easy seed dispersal. Flowers and fruits March/April.
Habit and Range: Along streams, wet woodlands, fresh marshes, swamps and floodplains throughout the state although absent in high mountain elevations.
COMMON CONFUSIONS:
Salix nigra (black willow) has leaves that are green beneath and it often grows as a small tree with a few trunks; S. caroliniana (Coastal Plain willow) has leaves whitish beneath and it grows as a multi-stemmed large shrub or small tree. Salix sericea (silky willow) has slightly wider, shorter leaves, with more pronounced teeth, whitish beneath because undersides are covered with shimmery white hairs.
Click here to view Salix caroliniana.
Click here to view Salix sericea.
Link to side-by-side comparisons page
