Salix discolor, the American pussy willow[2] or glaucous willow,[3] is a species of willow native to North America, one of two species commonly called pussy willow.
It is a weak-wooded deciduousshrub or small tree growing to 6m (20ft) tall, with brown shoots. The leaves are oval, 3–14cm long and 1–3.5cm broad, green above and downy grey-white beneath.
The flowers are soft silky silvery catkins, borne in early spring before the new leaves appear, with the male and female catkins on different plants (dioecious); the male catkins mature yellow at pollen release.
The fruit is a small capsule 7–12mm long containing numerous minute seeds embedded in cottony down.[4][5]
As with the closely related Salix caprea (European pussy willow), it is also often grown for cut flowers.
The flowering shoots are used for spring religious decoration on Palm Sunday, as a replacement for palm branches, which do not grow in much of North America.[6] Various Eastern European peoples carry pussy willows on Palm Sunday instead of palm branches. This custom was brought to North America by Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Romanian Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, Ruthenian Catholic, Ukrainian Catholic, Kashubian Catholic and Polish Catholic émigrés. Sometimes, on Palm Sunday, they will bless both palms and pussy willows in church. The branches will often be preserved throughout the year in the family's icon corner.[7]
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