Salix arizonica | |
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Salix arizonica | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Malpighiales |
Family: | Salicaceae |
Genus: | Salix |
Species: | S. arizonica |
Binomial name | |
Salix arizonica Dorn | |
Salix arizonica is a species of willow known by the common name Arizona willow. It is native to the southwestern United States, where it occurs in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. [1]
This shrub varies in size and shape, occurring in low mats or upright, sometimes forming thickets. [2] It reaches 2.6 [3] to 3 meters [2] in maximum height. The branches are often bright red in color, [1] [2] while the smaller twigs are yellowish, reddish, or brownish, with a coating of hairs. [3] The leaves are generally oval in shape and have smooth or serrated margins. The shiny leaf blades are up to 5 centimeters long. The inflorescence is a catkin. The species is dioecious. Flowering occurs in May and June. [3] The shiny leaves of this willow help distinguish it from other willows in the habitat, all of which have waxy leaves. [2]
This species is very similar to Salix boothii , a plant that has certain flavonoids that are lacking in Salix arizonica. [3] They can also be distinguished by the size and shape of the leaves. [1]
This willow occurs in three main areas, the White Mountains of Arizona (including Mt. Baldy), the plateaus of Utah, and the Rocky Mountains of southern Colorado and New Mexico. This plant grows in subalpine meadows and cienegas and on streambanks. It occurs in spots where there is moisture available year-round. Other species in the habitat include Dasiphora floribunda , Caltha leptosepala , Carex spp., Deschampsia caespitosa , Pedicularis groenlandica , Picea engelmannii , Poa pratensis and other willow species, such as S. monticola and S. planifolia . [1]
The main threat to this species is grazing by livestock and wild ungulates. [1] Animals reduce the plants' biomass and height as well as their survival and ability to reproduce sexually. [4] Other threats include alteration of the local hydrology, logging, road maintenance, recreational activity, ski resort activity, fungi of the Melampsora epitea species complex, and climate change. [1] [5]
This species has been shown to have significant genetic variation between its well-separated populations. [6]
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Salix scouleriana is a species of willow native to northwestern North America. Other names occasionally used include fire willow, Nuttall willow, mountain willow, and black willow.
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Salix barrattiana is a species of flowering plant in the willow family known by the common name Barratt's willow. It is native to North America, where it is distributed across Alaska and western Canada, with also a few populations in Montana and Wyoming. These disjunct populations are probably relics from a time when the climate was colder. The southernmost population is technically in Wyoming, but it is located at the Montana state line and it is limited to one clone of all-staminate plants within an area of 100 square meters (1,100 sq ft) in a high-elevation habitat.
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Salix geyeriana is a species of willow known by the common names Geyer's willow, Geyer willow and silver willow. The type specimen was collected by the botanist Karl Andreas Geyer, for whom it was named. Its conspicuous, yellow flowers begin to bloom as early as March, to as late as the end of June.
The ecology of the Rocky Mountains is diverse due to the effects of a variety of environmental factors. The Rocky Mountains are the major mountain range in western North America, running from the far north of British Columbia in Canada to New Mexico in the southwestern United States, climbing from the Great Plains at or below 1,800 feet (550 m) to peaks of over 14,000 feet (4,300 m). Temperature and rainfall varies greatly also and thus the Rockies are home to a mixture of habitats including the alpine, subalpine and boreal habitats of the Northern Rocky Mountains in British Columbia and Alberta, the coniferous forests of Montana and Idaho, the wetlands and prairie where the Rockies meet the plains, a different mix of conifers on the Yellowstone Plateau in Wyoming and in the high Rockies of Colorado and New Mexico, and finally the alpine tundra of the highest elevations.
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Atriplex gardneri is a species of flowering plant in the amaranth family known by the common name Gardner's saltbush. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to Saskatchewan in Canada south to Nevada and New Mexico in the United States. The specific epithet of the species, gardneri, is misnamed after its first collector, Alexander Gordon. The naturalist Alfred Moquin-Tandon was under the impression that Gordon's last name was Gardner.
Lycium pallidum is a species of flowering plant in the nightshade family known by the common names pale wolfberry and pale desert-thorn. It is native to northern Mexico and the southwestern United States. In Mexico it can be found in Sonora, Chihuahua, Zacatecas, and San Luis Potosi. In the United States it occurs from California to Texas and as far north as Utah and Colorado.
Salix brachycarpa is a species of flowering plant in the willow family known by the common names barren-ground willow, small-fruit willow and shortfruit willow.
Salix glauca is a species of flowering plant in the willow family known by the common names gray willow, grayleaf willow, white willow, and glaucous willow. It is native to North America, where it occurs throughout much of Alaska, northern and western Canada, and the contiguous United States south through the Rocky Mountains to northern New Mexico. It can also be found in Greenland, northwestern Europe, and Siberia.
Salix monticola is a species of flowering plant in the willow family known by the common names mountain willow, cherry willow, serviceberry willow, and park willow. It is native to the United States, where it occurs in the Rocky Mountains region from Wyoming to Arizona and New Mexico. It also occurs in Alaska and parts of Canada.
Salix serissima is a species of flowering plant in the willow family known by the common names autumn willow and fall willow. It is native to North America, where it is distributed across much of Canada and the northern contiguous United States.
Astragalus leptaleus is a species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common name park milkvetch. It is native to the Rocky Mountains of the United States, where it occurs in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado.
Dudleya arizonica is a species of perennial succulent plant commonly known as the Arizona chalk dudleya and the Arizona liveforever. A member of the genus Dudleya, this species is characterized by long, red flowers that adorn a waxy rosette of succulent leaves. It resembles a reduced desert form of the more coastal chalk dudleya, Dudleya pulverulenta, but differs in its smaller stature, lower number of leaves, and orientation of the flowers. Native to the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, it is widespread in range, but is primarily found in scattered, widely separated localities. It can be found as far west as coastal Ensenada to the desolate desert ranges of Nevada. It is one of two species of Dudleya that occur in Arizona, the other being Dudleya saxosa subsp. collomiae, and is the only species on mainland Mexico and in Utah.