Salix hastata :

Scientific Name:

Kingdom: Plantae

Division:

• Tracheophyta (vascular)
• Spermatophyta (seed bearing)
Angiospermae (enclosed seed)

Class: Dicoteldonae (two seed-leaves)

Family: Salicaceae (Willow Family)

Genera: Salix (Willows) (Classic Latin name for willow)

Species: hastata

Synonym(s): S.farriae

English Name(s):

,

First Nation Names:

K'aii

Structure:

• Thicket forming freely branching shrub.
• Up to1.5m high.
• Branches brown, usually glabrescent (hairless).
• Branchlets reddish brown, usually white-villous with short curved hairs.

Leaves:

• Alternate.
• Buds of all salix spp. (Willows) are covered by a single scale.
• Elliptic to obovate in shape.
• 2.5-7.0cm long and about half as wide.
• With acute tips and narrowly rounded bases.
• Margins entire (smooth).
• Mature leaves glabrous (hiarless) but with rust-coloured trichomes (hairlike outgrowth) on uppermidrib.
• surfaces green above paler below.
• Petioles (stalks) short, reddish.
• Stipules (leaf appendages) oval soon deciduous (falling off).

Reproductive Parts:

• Flowers lacking a parianth(sepals + petals). Born in cylindrical catkins.
• Plants dioecious (uni-sexual).
• Catkins appearing with leaves.
• Pistillate catkins (female) 2.5-5.0cm long, on leafy peduncles (stalks).
• Pistils 2-4mm long, glabrous (hairless), green and more or less reddish at base.
• Stipes (stalks) 0.4-0.8mm long.
• Nectaries about half as long as the stipes (stalks).
• Bracts narrowly oblong in shape, acute tips, light brown or bicolour, sparsely pubescent (hairy), with long straight hairs.

Seed:

• Fruit a dehiscent (splitting open) capsule containing numerous small seeds.
• Seed capsules (mature pistils) 3.2-8.0mm long, remaining reddish at base.

Not to Be Confused With:

• Many of the erect shrub Salix (Willow) species can be hard to distinguish from each other. Useing the Keys and especially the Character Chart Key on the Salicaceae (Willow Family) Page should help.

Physiology:

• Are insect pollenated. Both male and female flowers have nectaries to attract pollenating insects. Male pollen is also brightly coloured red or yellow to attract insects.
• Several types of galls can be seen on willows. These are deformations of plant tissue caused by the physical actions or chemical secretions of insects.
• Willow Roses are a type of gall that grows on some species of willow. It is caused by the larvae of Cecidomyia rosaria. The larvae through chemical secretions cause the leaves of the bud to grow in a rose petal like fashion.

Life Cycle:

• Perennial.

Seasonal Cycle:

• Leaves and catkins deciduous.
• Catkins appearing with the leaves.

Animal Uses:

• In spring and early summer the catkins and young leaves are eagerly eaten by many mammals and birds.
• Moose, caribou and deer all eat the twigs and young branches.
• The twigs and bark are eaten by hares and lemmings.
• Willow is an important food for bears and a secondary food for beavers.
• Willow is an important food for many animals.
• Winter buds are one of the principle winter foods of ptarmigan and grouse.

Habitat:

• Along rivers and streams.

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