Salix laevigata

Last updated

Salix laevigata
Salixlaevigata.jpg
Status TNC G5.svg
Secure  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Malpighiales
Family: Salicaceae
Genus: Salix
Species:
S. laevigata
Binomial name
Salix laevigata
Salix laevigata range map 1.png
Natural range of Salix laevigata
Salix laevigata range map 4.png
Close-up of natural range of Salix laevigata

Salix laevigata, the red willow or polished willow, is a species of willow native to the southwestern United States and northern Baja California. [1]

Contents

Biology

The red willow is a small tree up to 45 ft (14 m) in height. Like most other willows, it commonly grows along riverbanks and in other areas with high soil moisture. [2] The bark is ridged and grayish, though it sometimes turns reddish with age. Its form is variable, but it will often grow from multiple winding trunks, some more or less straight up, and some growing out far away from the base, even horizontally, and laying along the creek bottom before growing upwards again. Twigs are reddish and flexible when young. Leaves are 3-4 inches long, lanceolate and shiny green on top, dull whitish green underneath. This tree is mostly deciduous during the winter, but can start growing back leaves early during warm snaps in the winter. Yellow flowers grow in drooping catkins. In female red willows, the catkins turn into tufts of cottony seeds, which are windborn, often in large quantities, for 2-3 weeks in the spring. [3] Flowering Time: Dec--Jun [4]

Distribution

The red willow occurs along the coast of Baja California and in California north to Cape Mendocino. It occurs east of the San Joaquin Valley in the lower elevation western foothills of the Sierra Nevada; it is absent from the Central Valley itself. [1] Small occurrences can be found in Oregon, Nevada, and New Mexico. In Arizona it is found in the central transition zone of the Mogollon Rim and in the central Grand Canyon. Its distribution extends to the Virgin River canyon of southwestern Utah. [1]

Ethnobotany

The Kutenai called red willow mukwuʔk, and used it in basketry. [5]

Related Research Articles

<i>Salix alba</i> Species of tree

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.

<i>Cupressus arizonica</i> Species of conifer

Cupressus arizonica, the Arizona cypress, is a North American species of tree in the cypress family Cupressaceae, native to the southwestern United States and Mexico. Populations may be scattered rather than in large, dense stands.

<i>Salix arctica</i> Species of willow

Salix arctica, the Arctic willow, is a tiny creeping willow. It is adapted to survive in Arctic conditions, specifically tundras.

<i>Salix lasiolepis</i> Species of willow

Salix lasiolepis is a species of willow native to western North America.

<i>Salix lucida</i> Species of plant

Salix lucida, the shining willow, Pacific willow, red willow, or whiplash willow, is a species of willow native to northern and western North America, occurring in wetland habitats. It is the largest willow found in British Columbia.

<i>Alnus rhombifolia</i> Species of tree

Alnus rhombifolia, the white alder, is an alder tree native to western North America, from British Columbia and Washington east to western Montana, southeast to the Sierra Nevada, and south through the Peninsular Ranges and Colorado Desert oases in Southern California. It occurs in riparian zone habitats at an altitudes range of 100–2,400 metres (330–7,870 ft). While not reported in northern Baja California, it has been predicted on the basis of its climatic adaptation to occur there also. Alnus rhombifolia is primarily found in the chaparral and woodlands, montane, and temperate forests ecoregions.

<i>Salix scouleriana</i> Species of willow

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.

<i>Salix exigua</i> Species of 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.

<i>Salix delnortensis</i> Species of willow

Salix delnortensis is a species of willow known by the common name Del Norte willow.

<i>Celtis reticulata</i> Species of tree

Celtis reticulata, with common names including netleaf hackberry, western hackberry, Douglas hackberry, netleaf sugar hackberry, palo blanco, and acibuche, is a small- to medium-sized deciduous tree native to western North America.

<i>Salix bebbiana</i> Species of willow

Salix bebbiana is a species of willow indigenous to Canada and the northern United States, from Alaska and Yukon south to California and Arizona and northeast to Newfoundland and New England. Common names include beaked willow, long-beaked willow, gray willow, and Bebb's willow. This species is also called red willow by Native Americans according to The Arctic Prairies Appendix E by Ernest Tompson Seton.

<i>Quercus turbinella</i> Species of plant

Quercus turbinella is a North American species of oak known by the common names shruboak, turbinella oak, shrub live oak, and gray oak. It is native to Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, and Nevada in the western United States. It also occurs in northern Mexico.

<i>Salix breweri</i> Species of willow

Salix breweri is a species of willow known by the common name Brewer's willow. It is endemic to California, where it can be found in the serpentine soils of the Coast Ranges in and around the San Francisco Bay Area. It is a riparian shrub growing one to four meters in height. The yellowish or reddish brown stems are lightly hairy in texture, the small twigs coated in velvety fibers. The leaves are generally lance-shaped, smooth-edged or gently toothed, and partially rolled under along the edges. The leaves are hairy, with the lower surfaces often quite woolly. Mature leaves may be 14 centimeters long or more. The inflorescence is a catkin which develops before the plant produces leaves. The catkins are up to 5 or 6 centimeters long, the female ones lengthening further as the fruits develop.

<i>Salix eastwoodiae</i> Species of willow

Salix eastwoodiae is a species of willow known by the common names mountain willow, Eastwood's willow, and Sierra willow. It was first described by Bebb in 1879 as Salix californica. This name was later found to be illegitimate, as Lesquereux had given the same name to a fossil willow in 1878.

<i>Salix geyeriana</i> Species of willow

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.

<i>Salix gooddingii</i> Species of willow

Salix gooddingii is a species of willow known by the common name Goodding's willow, or Goodding's black willow. It was named for its collector, Leslie Newton Goodding.

<i>Salix hookeriana</i> Species of willow

Salix hookeriana is a species of willow known by the common names dune willow, coastal willow, and Hooker's willow.

<i>Salix jepsonii</i> Species of willow

Salix jepsonii is a species of willow known by the common name Jepson's willow. it is named for renowned California botanist Willis Linn Jepson.

Salix ligulifolia is a species of willow known by the common name strapleaf willow. It is native to the western United States. It grows in moist and wet habitat, such as riverbanks, swamps, and floodplains, such as in the Sierra Nevada in California.

<i>Salix sitchensis</i> Species of willow

Salix sitchensis is a species of willow known by the common name Sitka willow.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Little Jr., Elbert L. (1976). "Map 176, Salix laevigata". Atlas of United States Trees. Vol. 3 (Minor Western Hardwoods). US Government Printing Office. LCCN   79-653298. OCLC   4053799.
  2. The Jepson Manual.
  3. "Red Willow, Salix laevigata".
  4. The Jepson Manual.
  5. "FirstVoices: Ktunaxa words" . Retrieved 2012-07-10.