Arctic Willow

? Arctic Willow secure
Arctic Willow foliage and male catkins
Plant Info
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Malpighiales Family: Salicaceae Genus: Salix Species: S. arctica
Binomial name
Salix arctica Pall.

The Arctic Willow (Salix arctica) is a tiny creeping willow (family Salicaceae). It is adapted to survive in harsh arctic and sub-arctic environments, and has a circumpolar distribution round the Arctic Ocean. It grows in tundra and rocky moorland, and is the northernmost woody plant in the world, occurring north to the northern limit of land on the north coast of Greenland.

It is typically a low shrub growing to only 1-15 cm in height (rarely to 25 cm high) and has round, shiny green leaves 1-3 cm long and broad, rarely up to 8 cm long and 6 cm broad; they are pubescent, with long silky, silvery hairs. Like the rest of the willows, Arctic Willow is dioecious, with male and female catkins on separate plants. As a result the plant's appearance varies; the female catkins are red-coloured, while the male catkins are yellow-coloured.

Despite its small size, it is a long-lived plant, growing extremely slowly in the severe arctic climate; one in eastern Greenland was found to be 236 years old.

The arctic willow is the only woody species to grow on Ellesmere Island, part of the Canadian territory of Nunavut. Here it grows approximately three inches every June, sprouts small leaves at the end of the month, and drops them before August.

External links

• Salicaceae of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago: Salix arctica