Bay Willow


Bay Willow with early autumn colours


Plant Characteristics
Habit   tree

Height: 50 ft"ft" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 50.
Width: 30 ft"ft" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 30.
Lifespan: perennial
Bloom: early spring, mid spring, late spring
Cultivation
Exposure: sun
Water: wet, moist
Features: flowers
USDA Zones: 5 to 10
Flower features: orange, yellow
Scientific Names

Salicaceae >

Salix >

pentandra >

L. >


Salix pentandra (Bay Willow) is a species of willow native to northern Europe and northern Asia.[1]

It is a large shrub or small tree growing to 14 m tall (rarely to 17 m), usually growing in wet, boggy ground. The leaves are glossy dark green, 5-12 cm long and 2-5 cm broad, with a finely serrated margin. The dioecious flowers are catkins, produced in late spring after the leaves; the male catkins are yellow, 2-5 cm long, the female catkins greenish, 1.5-3 cm long; they are pollinated by bees. The fruit is a small capsule containing numerous minute seeds embedded in white down which aids wind dispersal.[1][2]

The scientific name refers to the male flowers having five stamens. The English name derives from the resemblance of the leaves to those of the Bay Laurel; other common names include Bay-leaved Willow and Laurel Willow. Its glossy leaves make it more decorative than many other willows, and it is often planted as an ornamental tree.[1]

It has become locally naturalised in northern North America, and is widely known as Laurel Leaf Willow there.


Read about Bay Willow in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture 

Salix pentandra. (S. laurifolia, Hort. S.Humboldtiana, Hort. not Willd.). Bay-leaf or Laurel-leaf Willow. Shrub or small tree, 8-20 ft. high: branches chestnut-color: lvs. large, elliptic to broadly oblanceolate, acuminate, shining and dark green above, paler beneath: aments appearing after many of the lvs. are fully developed, not conspicuous. Eu. and Asia.


The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.


Cultivation

Propagation

Pests and diseases

Varieties

Gallery

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Rushforth, K. (1999). Trees of Britain and Europe. Collins ISBN 0-00-220013-9.
  2. Mitchell, A. F. (1974). A Field Guide to the Trees of Britain and Northern Europe. Collins ISBN 0-00-212035-6

External links