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{{Taxobox
| color = lightgreen
| name = Arctic Willow
| status =
secure
| image = Salix herbacea(02).jpg
| image_width = 240px
| image_caption = Arctic Willow foliage and male catkins
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Dicotyledon|Magnoliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Malpighiales]]
| familia = [[Salicaceae]]
| genus = ''[[Willow|Salix]]''
| species = '''''S. arctica'''''
| binomial = ''Salix arctica''
| binomial_authority = [[Peter Simon Pallas|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 [[the world's most northern|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 [[Leaf|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 [[plant sexuality|dioecious]], with male and female [[catkin]]s 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 [[Canada|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.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2007/10/25/news/local/38-poles.txt |title=Researcher: Study of poles needed |author=Ed Kemmick |publisher=Billingsgazette.net |date=2007-10-25 |accessdate=2007-10-25}}</ref>
==Notes==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
*[http://www.mun.ca/biology/delta/arcticf/sal/www/wlsaar.htm Salicaceae of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago: ''Salix arctica'']
[[Category:Salicaceae|Willow, Arctic]]
[[Category:Arctic flora]]
| color = lightgreen
| name = Arctic Willow
| status =
secure
| image = Salix herbacea(02).jpg
| image_width = 240px
| image_caption = Arctic Willow foliage and male catkins
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Dicotyledon|Magnoliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Malpighiales]]
| familia = [[Salicaceae]]
| genus = ''[[Willow|Salix]]''
| species = '''''S. arctica'''''
| binomial = ''Salix arctica''
| binomial_authority = [[Peter Simon Pallas|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 [[the world's most northern|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 [[Leaf|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 [[plant sexuality|dioecious]], with male and female [[catkin]]s 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 [[Canada|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.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2007/10/25/news/local/38-poles.txt |title=Researcher: Study of poles needed |author=Ed Kemmick |publisher=Billingsgazette.net |date=2007-10-25 |accessdate=2007-10-25}}</ref>
==Notes==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
*[http://www.mun.ca/biology/delta/arcticf/sal/www/wlsaar.htm Salicaceae of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago: ''Salix arctica'']
[[Category:Salicaceae|Willow, Arctic]]
[[Category:Arctic flora]]