FIELD ID CHARACTERISTICS:
Elliptical leaves covered with silky white hairs beneath.
Synonym(s): Salix coactilis, Salix grisea, Salix pensylvanica
Description: Medium to large shrub (to 3.5 m), with narrow leaves with silky hairs below.
Leaves: Narrow elliptical or lanceolate leaves, covered with silky white hairs beneath.
Flowers/Fruit: Relatively short, fat male and female catkins appear in March and April, as the leaves are emerging. Brown, dry fruits appear soon after flowering.
Habit and Range: Prefers open sunny wetlands, such as bogs, ditches, wet thickets, and stream banks. Frequent in the Mountains, less common in the Piedmont and quite rare in the Coastal Plain.
COMMON CONFUSIONS:
Salix nigra (black willow) has leaves that are greenish beneath and is usually growing as a few-trunked small tree. S. caroliniana (Coastal Plain willow) has slightly smaller and narrower leaves, whitish beneath without hairs, usually growing as a multi-stemmed large shrub.
Click here to view Salix nigra.
Click here to view Salix caroliniana.
Link to side-by-side comparisons page
