Salix sericea Marshall

us
NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN
03972577
U.S.A.
Salicaceae Salix sericea Marshall
det. M. Nee, 2017
WISCONSIN, Rftfeland Co., 2.2 km (straight line) SE of
junction of Hwy. 14 and Hwy. 60 in Gotham.
43°12’18”N, 90°16’50”W alt. 210 m.
T 8 N; R 2 E; NBICNfSM sect. 5.
Edge of dropoff from the flat dry sand terrace to the
Wisconsin River floodplain marsh.
Shrub, 3 m. high, but many of the stems are bent down in the
upper part and to nearly 5 m. long, forming a dense patch of
many dozens of stems, and the bases under 0.5 meters of water
and impossible to delineate clumps. Stems for wood specimen
2.7 cm. in diameter, 10 years old. Voucher for wood
specimens at Kw, Lw, MADw, MEXUw, RSAw. Twigs
extremely brittle at the base, even more so than in S. x fragilis.
Pistillate; all plants seen in this population along 250 meters
were pistillate, but perhaps any staminate plants no longer
have catkins and thus not noticed.
The Salix sericea is now in about 0.5 km of water in what
during the summer will be a deep marsh with solid
vegetation cover. It is further from the shore than the
Cephalanthus occidentalis which is confined to the bottom
of the slope and the edge of the marsh. It occurs with
Spiraea alba which also forms populations further out in the
marsh. There are no other species of Salix here except for a
tree or two of Salix cf. nigra.
The population of Salix sericea is almost continuous for 200
meters from 43°12’18”N, 90°16’50”W to 43°12’13”N,
90°16’44”W. It is not present in similar habitat for 250
meters to the west, nor at the east end as the marsh
transitions to floodplain forest. The clumps vary from few
to very numerous stems in which case it is difficult to tell
what the habit is. Only pistillate plants were seen, but it may
be too late in the season to notice staminate ones if any
occur here.
Coll.: M. H. Nee 63509	2 May 2017
Missouri Botanical Garden (MO)
03972577