Purple Willow

Plant Characteristics

Habit		tree
Height:	⇕	15 ft"ft" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 15.
Width:	⇔	15 ft"ft" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 15.
Lifespan:	⌛	perennial
Bloom:	❀	early spring, mid spring, late spring

Cultivation

Exposure:	☼	sun
Water:	◍	wet, moist
Features:	✓	flowers
USDA Zones:		5 to 10
Flower features:	❀	red, pink

Scientific Names

Salicaceae >

Salix >

purpurea >

L. >

Salix purpurea (Purple Willow or Purple Osier) is a species of willow native to most of Europe and western Asia north to the British Isles, Poland, and the Baltic States.

It is a deciduous shrub growing to 1-3 m (rarely to 5 m) tall, with purple-brown to yellow-brown shoots, turning pale grey on old stems. The leaves are 2-8 cm (rarely to 12 cm) long and 0.3-1 cm (rarely 2 cm) wide; they are dark green above, glaucous green below, and unusually for a willow, are often arranged in opposite pairs rather than alternate. The flowers are small catkins 1.5-4.5 cm long, produced in early spring; they are often purple or red in colour, whence the name of the species (other willows mostly have whitish, yellow or green catkins).

Read about Purple Willow in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Salix purpurea. (S. Forbyana, Smith. Vetrix purpurea, Rafin.). Purple Osier. A shrub or small tree, spreading at base, with long, flexible branches: lvs. oblanceolate, serrulate, glabrous, veiny, 3-6 in. long, often appearing opposite: aments sessile, slender; pistillate recurved; scales purple; stamen 1: caps. small, ovate. Eu.—Planted as an ornamental shrub and escaped in many places. Also grown as a basket-willow. Var. pendula, Dipp. (S. nigra pendula, Hort. S. Americana pendula, Hort.). Branches pendent. Var. lambertiana, W. D. Koch. Lvs. broader, generally obovate-lanceolate, more abruptly acuminate, usually more rounded at the base, up to 4 in. long and 3/4 in. broad. Var. sericea, W. D. Koch. Lvs. silky when young, becoming glabrous. Here belongs the "Kecks Willow" (var. Kecksii, Hort.). Var. amplexicaulis, Boiss. Lvs. sessile or subsessile, cordate or rounded at the base, acuminate, oblong to oblong-lanceolate, glabrous. 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 It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article.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.

Gallery

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References

• Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963

External links

• w:Purple Willow. Some of the material on this page may be from Wikipedia, under the Creative Commons license.
• Purple Willow QR Code (Size 50, 100, 200, 500)