Salix exigua

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Salix exigua 9.jpg


Plant Characteristics
Habit   shrub

Height: 12 ft"ft" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 12.
Width: 10 ft"ft" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 10.
Lifespan: perennial
Cultivation
Exposure: sun
USDA Zones: 2 to 9
Scientific Names

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exigua >

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Salix exigua (Sandbar Willow, Narrowleaf Willow, or Coyote Willow; syn. S. argophylla, S. hindsiana, S. interior, S. linearifolia, S. luteosericea, S. malacophylla, S. nevadensis, S. parishiana) is a species of willow native to most of North America except for the southeast and far north, occurring from Alaska east to New Brunswick, and south to northern Mexico.[1]

It is a deciduous shrub reaching 4 – 7 m in height, spreading by basal shoots to form dense clonal colonies. The leaves are narrow lanceolate, 4 – 12 cm long and 2 – 10 mm broad, green, to grayish with silky white hairs at least when young; the margin is entire or with a few irregular, widely spaced small teeth. The flowers are produced in catkins in late spring, after the leaves appear. It is dioecious, with staminate and pistillate catkins on separate plants, the male catkins up to 10 cm in long, the female catkins up to 8 cm in long. The fruit is a cluster of capsules, each containing numerous minute seeds embedded in shiny white silk.[2][3]

Cultivation

Propagation

Pests and diseases

Varieties

There are two subspecies, which meet in the western Great Plains:[1][2]

  • Salix exigua subsp. exigua. Western North America. Leaves grayish all summer with persistent silky hairs; seed capsules 3 – 6 mm long.
  • Salix exigua subsp. interior (Rowlee) Cronq. (syn. S. interior Rowlee). Eastern and central North America. Leaves usually lose hairs and become green by summer, only rarely remaining pubescent; seed capsules 5 – 8 mm long.

Gallery

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Germplasm Resources Information Network: Salix exigua
  2. 2.0 2.1 Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Salix exigua
  3. Jepson Flora: Salix exigua

External links