Salix alba L.

• Authority

  Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

• Family

  Salicaceae

• Scientific Name

  Salix alba L.

• Description

  Species Description - Tree to 25 m; twigs spreading or sometimes pendulous, greenish to yellowish, long-sericeous, somewhat brittle at base; stipules minute and caducous; lvs narrowly lanceolate to lanceolate, 4–10(–15) × 1–2.5 cm, acuminate, with 7–10 glandular teeth per cm of margin, glaucous beneath, ± silvery-silky on both sides but especially beneath; petioles sericeous, 3–6 mm, those on vigorous young shoots glandular at the tip; catkins with the lvs, 3–6 cm, on peduncles 1–4 cm with 2–4 small lvs; scales as in no. 8 [Salix fragilis L.]; stamens mostly 2; fr ovoid-conic, 3–5 mm, glabrous, sessile or subsessile; style 0.2–0.4 mm; 2n=76. Native of Europe, sparingly escaped from cult. in our range. (S. a. var. vitellina, golden w., a long-established cultivar with bright yellow twigs) Hybridizes freely with nos. 8 and 9 [Salix babylonica L.]

• Common Names

  white willow