| Salix caprea | |
|---|---|
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| Goat willow male catkins | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Malpighiales |
| Family: | Salicaceae |
| Genus: | Salix |
| Species: | S. caprea |
| Binomial name | |
| Salix caprea | |
 | |
| Distribution map | |
| Synonyms [1] | |
List
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Salix caprea, known as goat willow, pussy willow or great sallow, is a common species of willow native to Europe and western and central Asia. [2]
It is a deciduous shrub or small tree, reaching a height of 8–10 m (26–33 ft), rarely to 13 m.
The leaves are 3–12 cm long and from 2–8 cm wide, broader than most other willows.
The flowers are soft silky, and silvery 3-7-cm-long catkins are produced in early spring before the new leaves appear; the male and female catkins are on different plants (dioecious). The male catkins mature yellow at pollen release, the female catkins mature pale green.
The fruit is a small capsule 5–10 mm long containing numerous minute seeds embedded in fine, cottony hairs. The seeds are very small (about 0.2 mm) with the fine hairs aiding dispersal; they require bare soil to germinate. [2] [3]
The Latin specific epithet caprea means "goat". [4] This, and the common name goat willow, probably derive from the first known illustration of the species in Hieronymus Bock's 1546 Herbal , where the plant is shown being browsed by a goat. The species was historically also widely used as a browse for goats, to which Bock's illustration may refer. [5]
S. caprea occurs both in wet/damp environments, such as riverbanks and lake shores, and in drier sites, wherever bare soil becomes available due to ground disturbance. [2]
Hybrids with several other willow species are common, notably with Salix cinerea (S. × reichardtii), Salix aurita (S. × multinervis), Salix viminalis (S. × smithiana), and Salix purpurea (S. × sordida). Populations of S. caprea often show hybrid introgression. [2] [3]
Unlike almost all other willows, pure specimens do not take root readily from cuttings; if a willow resembling the species does root easily, it is probably a hybrid with another species of willow. [3]
The leaves are used as a food resource by several species of Lepidoptera, and are also commonly eaten by browsing mammals. Willows are very susceptible to gall inducers, and the midge Rhabdophaga rosaria forms the camellia gall on S. caprea. [6]
A small number of cultivars have been selected for garden use. The most common is S. caprea 'Kilmarnock', discovered by James Smith, with stiffly pendulous shoots forming a mop-head; it is a male clone. A similar female clone is S. caprea 'Weeping Sally'. As they do not form a leader, they are grafted on erect stems of other willows; the height of these cultivars is determined by the height at which the graft is made. [3] Plants can also be grown from greenwood cuttings, which make attractive creeping mounds. Hardwood cuttings are often difficult to root.
Both tannin and salicin can be extracted from goat willow bark. The tree is not considered a good source of timber, as its wood is both brittle and known to crackle violently if burned.
As with the closely related Salix discolor (American pussy willow), it is also often grown for cut flowers. See Pussy willow for further cultural information, which applies to both species.
In Scandinavia it has been fairly common to make willow flutes from goat willow cuttings.
In Germany, Hungary, north of Slovakia, Poland and Ukraine, the just-opened catkins are used like the olive branches on Palm Sunday.
Willows, also called sallows and osiers, of the genus Salix, comprise around 350 species of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions.
Salix alba, the white willow, is a species of willow native to Europe and western and central Asia. The name derives from the white tone to the undersides of the leaves.
Salix × fragilis, with the common names crack willow and brittle willow, is a hybrid species of willow native to Europe and Western Asia. It is native to riparian habitats, usually found growing beside rivers and streams, and in marshes and water meadow channels. It is a hybrid between Salix euxina and Salix alba, and is very variable, with forms linking both parents.
Pussy willow is a name given to many of the smaller species of the genus Salix when their furry catkins are young in early spring. These species include :
Salix discolor, the American pussy willow or glaucous willow, is a species of willow native to North America, one of two species commonly called pussy willow.
Salix babylonica is a species of willow native to dry areas of northern China, but cultivated for millennia elsewhere in Asia, being traded along the Silk Road to southwest Asia and Europe.
Salix cinerea is a species of willow native to Europe and western Asia.
Salix nigra, the black willow, is a species of willow native to eastern North America, from New Brunswick and southern Ontario west to Minnesota, and south to northern Florida and Texas.
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.
Salix exigua is a species of willow native to most of North America except for the southeast and far north, occurring from Alaska east to New Brunswick, and south to northern Mexico. It is considered a threatened species in Massachusetts while in Connecticut, Maryland, and New Hampshire it is considered endangered.
Salix triandra, with the common names almond willow, almond-leaved willow or black maul willow, is a species of willow native to Europe and Western and Central Asia. It is found from south-eastern England east to Lake Baikal, and south to Spain and the Mediterranean east to the Caucasus, and the Alborz Mountains. It usually grows in riparian habitats, on river and stream banks, and in wetlands.
Salix lanata, the woolly willow, is a subarctic species of willow native to Iceland, the Faeroe Islands and Finland, through to eastern Siberia. In Scotland it can be found in only a few localities of Perthshire, Angus and Aberdeenshire, generally on rocky mountain sides at altitudes of 600–900 m (1,969–2,953 ft).
Rabdophaga rosaria is a gall midge which forms Camellia galls or terminal rosette gall on willow species. It was first described by Hermann Loew in 1850.
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.
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.
Salix alaxensis is a species of flowering plant in the willow family known by the common names Alaska willow and feltleaf willow. It is native to northern North America, where it occurs throughout Alaska and northwestern Canada.
Salix hastata is a species of flowering plant in the willow family, known by the common name halberd willow. It has an almost circumpolar distribution, occurring throughout the northern latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, most frequently found near the coast of the Arctic Ocean. In Alaska, it occurs in the north and in the central mountains. It also occurs in northwestern Canada, and in Norway and Russia, as well as various alpine or mountainous areas of Eurasia.
Dorytomus taeniatus is a species of weevil native to Europe. It was first described by Johann Christian Fabricius in 1781. The larvae cause a small growth on the catkins of willows.
Rabdophaga iteobia is a gall midge which forms galls on the buds of willow species.
Salix tweedyi, or Tweedy's willow, is a shrub in the willow family. It is native to the northwestern United States.
