Willow
Exposure: | ☼ | sun |
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Water: | ◍ | wet, moist |
Sunset Zones: | varies by species |
Salix > |
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Willows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species[1] of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Most species are known as willow, but some narrow-leaved shrub species are called osier, and some broader-leaved species are referred to as sallow (derived from the Latin word salix, willow). Some willows (particularly arctic and alpine species) are low-growing or creeping shrubs; for example the Dwarf Willow (Salix herbacea) rarely exceeds 6 cm in 0 in height, though spreading widely across the ground.
Willows are very cross-fertile, and numerous hybrids occur, both naturally and in cultivation. A well-known ornamental example is the Weeping Willow (Salix × sepulcralis), which is a hybrid of Peking Willow (Salix babylonica) from China and White Willow (Salix alba) from Europe.
Willows all have abundant watery bark, sap which is heavily charged with salicylic acid, soft, usually pliant, tough wood, slender branches, and large, fibrous, often stoloniferous roots. The roots are remarkable for their toughness, size, and tenacity to life, and roots readily grow from aerial parts of the plant.
The leaves are typically elongated but may also be round to oval, frequently with a serrated margin. Most species are deciduous; semi-evergreen willows with coriaceous leaves are rare, e.g. Salix micans and S. australior in the eastern Mediterranean. All the buds are lateral; no absolutely terminal bud is ever formed. The buds are covered by a single scale, enclosing at its base two minute opposite buds, alternately arranged, with two small, opposite, scale-like leaves. This first pair soon fall, and the later leaves are alternately arranged. The leaves are simple, feather-veined, and typically linear-lanceolate. Usually they are serrate, rounded at base, acute or acuminate. The leaf petioles are short, the stipules often very conspicuous, looking like tiny round leaves and sometimes remaining for half the summer. On some species, however, they are small, inconspicuous, and fugacious (soon falling). In color the leaves show a great variety of greens, ranging from yellowish to bluish.
ExpandRead about Willow in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture
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Cultivation
Almost all willows take root very readily from cuttings or where broken branches lie on the ground. There are a few exceptions, including the Goat Willow (Salix caprea) and Peachleaf Willow (Salix amygdaloides). One famous example of such growth from cuttings involves the poet Alexander Pope, who begged a twig from a parcel tied with twigs sent from Spain to Lady Suffolk. This twig was planted and thrived, and legend has it that all of England's weeping willows are descended from this first one.[2]
Willows are often planted on the borders of streams so that their interlacing roots may protect the bank against the action of the water. Frequently the roots are much larger than the stem which grows from them.
Propagation
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Pests and diseases
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Species
About 350, including:
Salix acutifolia - Violet Willow
Salix alaxensis - Alaska Willow
Salix alba - White Willow
Salix alpina - Alpine Willow
Salix amygdaloides - Peachleaf Willow
Salix arbuscula - Mountain Willow
Salix arbusculoides - Littletree Willow
Salix arctica - Arctic Willow
Salix atrocinerea
Salix aurita - Eared Willow
Salix babylonica - Peking Willow
Salix bakko
Salix barrattiana - Barratt's Willow
Salix bebbiana - Beaked Willow
Salix boothii - Booth Willow
Salix bouffordii
Salix brachycarpa - Barren-ground Willow
Salix cacuminis
Salix canariensis
Salix candida - Sage Willow
Salix caprea - Goat Willow
Salix caroliniana - Coastal Plain Willow
Salix chaenomeloides
Salix chilensis
Salix cinerea - Grey Sallow
Salix cordata
Salix daphnoides
Salix discolor - Pussy Willow
Salix eastwoodiae - Eastwood's Willow
Salix eleagnos
Salix eriocarpa
Salix eriocephala - Heartleaf Willow
Salix exigua - Sandbar Willow
Salix fargesii
Salix foetida
Salix fragilis - Crack Willow
Salix futura
Salix geyeriana
Salix gilgiana
Salix glauca
Salix gooddingii - Goodding Willow
Salix gracilistyla
Salix hainanica - Hainan Willow
Salix hastata
Salix helvetica - Swiss Willow
Salix herbacea - Dwarf Willow
Salix hirsuta
Salix hookeriana - Hooker's Willow
Salix hultenii
Salix humboldtiana - Chile Willow
Salix humilis - Upland Willow
Salix integra
Salix interior
Salix irrorata
Salix japonica
Salix jessoensis
Salix koriyanagi
Salix kusanoi
Salix laevigata
Salix lanata - Woolly Willow
Salix lapponum - Downy Willow
Salix lasiandra - Pacific Willow
Salix lasiolepsis - Arroyo Willow
Salix lindleyana
Salix lucida - Shining Willow
Salix magnifica
Salix matsudana - Chinese Willow
Salix miyabeana
Salix mucronata
Salix myrtilloides - Swamp Willow
Salix myrsinifolia - Dark-leaved Willow
Salix myrsinites - Whortle-leaved Willow
Salix nakamurana
Salix nigra - Black Willow
Salix pedicellaris - Bog Willow
Salix pentandra - Bay Willow
Salix petiolaris - Slender Willow
Salix phylicifolia - Tea-leaved Willow
Salix planifolia- Planeleaf Willow
Salix polaris - Polar Willow
Salix pseudo-argentea
Salix purpurea - Purple Willow
Salix pyrifolia - Balsam Willow
Salix reinii
Salix repens - Creeping Willow
Salix reptans
Salix reticulata - Net-leaved Willow
Salix retusa
Salix rorida
Salix rosmarinifolia - Rosemary-leaved Willow
Salix rupifraga
Salix salicicola
Salix schwerinii
Salix scouleriana - Scouler's Willow
Salix sericea - Silky Willow
Salix serissaefolia
Salix serissima - Autumn Willow
Salix shiraii
Salix sieboldiana
Salix sitchensis
Salix subfragilis
Salix subopposita
Salix taraikensis
Salix taxifolia
Salix tetrasperma
Salix thorelii
Salix triandra - Almond Willow
Salix udensis
Salix viminalis - Common Osier
Salix vulpina
Salix waldsteiniana
Salix wallichiana
Salix wilmsii
Salix woodii
Salix yezoalpina
Salix yoshinoi
Hybrids:
Cultivars:
ExpandRead about Willow in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture
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Gallery
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References
- Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963
External links
- w:Willow. Some of the material on this page may be from Wikipedia, under the Creative Commons license.
- Willow QR Code (Size 50, 100, 200, 500)
- ↑ Mabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book. Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge.
- ↑ Hone, William (1826). "August 9". The Every-Day Book (Electronic Edition). Hone quotes "Martyn", and notes that Martyn in turn cites "the St. James's Chronicle, for August, 1801".