Salix nigra

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Salix nigra
Salix nigra Morton 180-88-3.jpg
In the Morton Arboretum
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. nigra
Binomial name
Salix nigra
Salix nigra range map 1.png
Natural range

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. [2]

Contents

Description

Flowers Salix nigra catkins 8001.JPG
Flowers

Salix nigra is a medium-sized deciduous tree, the largest North American species of willow, growing to 10–30 m (35–100 ft) tall, exceptionally up to 45 m (148 ft), with a trunk 50–80 centimeters (20–30 in) diameter. The bark is dark brown to blackish, becoming fissured in older trees, and frequently forking near the base. [3] The shoots are slender and variable in color from green to brown, yellow or purplish; they are (like the related European Salix fragilis ) brittle at the base, snapping evenly at the branch junction if bent sharply. The foliage buds are 2–4 millimetres (116316 in) long, with a single, pointed reddish-brown bud scale. The leaves are alternate, long, thin, 5–15 centimeters (2–6 in) long and 0.5–2 centimeters (1434 in) broad, usually somewhat falcate, dark, shiny green on both sides or with a lighter green underside, with a finely serrated margin, a short petiole and a pair of small stipules. It is dioecious, with small, greenish yellow to yellow flowers borne on catkins 2.5–7.5 centimeters (1–3 in) long in early spring at the same time as the new leaves appear. The fruit is a 5 millimeters (316 in) capsule which splits open when mature to release the numerous minute, down-covered seeds. The leaves turn a lemon yellow in the fall. [3]

Distribution and habitat

Salix nigra is native to eastern North America, from New Brunswick and southern Ontario west to Minnesota, and south to northern Florida and Texas. [2] It is also found in parts of Mexico, both south and west of the Rio Grande. It has also been introduced along streams in the state of Utah. [4] Salix nigra grows best in areas of full sun and wet or moist soils. [5] Thus, it is typically found along streams and in swamps. [6] [7] [8]

Taxonomy

Black willow is part of the Salicaceae, the willow family. [9] The accepted name for black willow is: Salix nigra Marshall. Marshall, the "Father of American Dendrology", [9] first described this taxon in 1785.

Salix gooddingii (Goodding's willow) is sometimes considered a variety of S. nigra as S. nigra var. vallicola Dudley; when recognized, this extends the range of S. nigra to western North America. However, the two are usually treated as distinct species. [10] Some other related taxa and synonyms are S. nigra var. altissima, S. nigra var. brevijulis, S. nigra var. longifolia, S. nigra var. marginata, and S. nigra var. wardii. [11]

Another name occasionally used for black willow is "swamp willow", not to be confused with Salix myrtilloides (swamp willow). Other common names include "Goodding willow", "southwestern black willow", "Dudley willow", and "sauz" (a Spanish word). [12]

Reproduction and growth

Salix nigra is dioecious, which means it has separate male and female trees. [13] Flowering may be climate dependent. It flowers during February in the southern part of its range, and flowers until June in the northern parts. These trees are capable of producing seeds when they are around the age of 10 years. The black willow continuously has good seed crops year after year, with only a few failures. The seeds require very specific conditions to germinate. They prefer soil that is very wet or flooded. After they germinate, they can experience excellent growth if they are exposed to high sunlight and copious moisture during the growing season. [14]

Black willow are capable of developing special features related to flood tolerance to help them survive in flooded habitats. Under flooded conditions, black willow develop hypertrophied lenticels and water roots. Black willows are also sensitive to drought conditions. Black willows living in drought conditions experience inhibition of their branch and root growth. [15]

Early season leaves of some species in the Salix genus generally contain denser indumentum than leaves that are produced later in the season. Indumentum refers to hairs that are red or brown in color. Salix have first leaves, which are leaves that grow from the bud, and can also be called leaves that are "preformed". The leaves that form as the branch continues to grow out are called new leaves, or "neoformed". [16]

Largest example

According to the National Register of Big Trees, the largest black willow tree in the US is in Hennepin, Minnesota. Its height is 63 feet (19 m), circumference is 32 feet (9.8 m) and spread is 73 feet (22 m).[ citation needed ]

The Marlboro Tree, located in Marlboro Township, New Jersey is certified by the State of New Jersey as the largest known example of this tree in the state. It is about 152 years old and measures 76 feet (23 m) in height and 19.7 feet (6.0 m) in circumference. Five grown people must hold hands to fully encircle the tree. [17]

Uses

Black willow roots are very bitter, and have been used as a substitute for quinine in the past. [18] Ethnobotanical uses of black willow by various Native American tribes include basketry, and treatment of fever, headache, and coughs. [19] It was recognized that using the bark and leaves of Salix nigra was useful in treating rheumatism.[ citation needed ]

The black willow is the only United States native willow species to be used as timber for a variety of different items. Black willow lumber is used in furniture and shipping containers. The largest production site for black willow timber was in Louisiana at its peak during the 1970s. [20]

The wood of Salix nigra is very lightweight. The wood was once used for artificial limbs, such as wooden hands. [21] It is also capable of maintaining its shape, does not splinter very easily, and has a moderately high shock resistance, allowing it to sustain continuous moderate impacts. [21]

It may also be used in environmental restoration. Black willow is very resistant to herbivory, flooding, and is an erosion control tool. Salix nigra is used for marshland stabilization or restoration projects as long as the roots don't penetrate any clay liner that may be in place. [22] [23] Salix nigra demonstrated some success as a photodegradation tool. [24] Photodegradation is theorized to work by drawing the target chemical, such as Bentazon, up the roots and stem into the leaves where it is degraded by higher energy radiation provided by the sun. [24]

Disease

Black willows are susceptible to diseases such as Crown gall and Cankers. Crown gall is caused by bacteria living in the soil where the black willow is present. When black willow are infected, the bacteria stimulate a quick burst in growth of plant cells. They cause the tree to form tumor-like growths, or "galls" on different parts of the tree such as their roots or on the lower branches. As these galls get bigger, they become hard, woody, brown in color, and corky. Black willows do not normally die from crown galls. However, these galls can cause a disruption in the flow of nutrients throughout the tree and can have its normal growth stunted or slowed down due to this disease. Crown galls are less problematic in soils that are more acidic, thus soil pH can be an important factor in helping to limit this disease. [25]

Black canker disease is caused by the fungus Glomerella miyabeana. This disease starts as spotting on the leaves of the black willow, where it then spreads to the petiole and eventually the twig or branch holding the leaf. It then forms black patches on the stem of the tree that are capable of expanding. Black Willows that are in nutrient-poor locations or that are experiencing poor temporary climate conditions (such as a temporary lack of rainfall or short, drought-like conditions) are considered stressed and very susceptible to the spread of these cankers. Tissue on the black willow that is affected by these cankers will not grow with the rest of the tree, and cracks will begin to form. [26]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Willow</span> Salix, genus of trees

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.

<i>Betula nigra</i> Species of birch

Betula nigra, the black birch, river birch or water birch, is a species of birch native to the Eastern United States from New Hampshire west to southern Minnesota, and south to northern Florida and west to Texas. It is one of the few heat-tolerant birches in a family of mostly cold-weather trees which do not thrive in USDA Zone 6 and up. B. nigra commonly occurs in floodplains and swamps.

<i>Pinus elliottii</i> Species of conifer tree

Pinus elliottii, commonly known as slash pine, is a conifer tree native to the Southeastern United States. Slash pine is named after the "slashes" – swampy ground overgrown with trees and bushes – that constitute its habitat. Other common names include swamp pine, yellow slash pine, and southern Florida pine. Slash pine has two different varieties: P. e. var. elliottii and P. e. var. densa. Historically, slash pine has been an important economic timber for naval stores, turpentine, and resin. The wood of slash pine is known for its unusually high strength, especially for a pine. It exceeds many hardwoods and is even comparable to very dense woods such as ironwood.

<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>Salix caprea</i> Species of tree

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.

<i>Salix <span style="font-style:normal;">×</span> fragilis</i> Species of tree

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.

<i>Populus nigra</i> Species of plant

Populus nigra, the black poplar, is a species of cottonwood poplar, the type species of section Aigeiros of the genus Populus, native to Europe, southwest and central Asia, and northwest Africa.

<i>Larix laricina</i> Species of larch native to North America

Larix laricina, commonly known as the tamarack, hackmatack, eastern larch, black larch, red larch, or American larch, is a species of larch native to Canada, from eastern Yukon and Inuvik, Northwest Territories east to Newfoundland, and also south into the upper northeastern United States from Minnesota to Cranesville Swamp, West Virginia; there is also an isolated population in central Alaska.

<i>Juglans nigra</i> Species of tree

Juglans nigra, the eastern American black walnut, is a species of deciduous tree in the walnut family, Juglandaceae, native to North America. It grows mostly in riparian zones, from southern Ontario, west to southeast South Dakota, south to Georgia, northern Florida and southwest to central Texas. Wild trees in the upper Ottawa Valley may be an isolated native population or may have derived from planted trees.

<i>Juglans cinerea</i> Species of tree

Juglans cinerea, commonly known as butternut or white walnut, is a species of walnut native to the eastern United States and southeast Canada.

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

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.

<i>Carya glabra</i> Species of tree

Carya glabra, the pignut hickory, is a common, but not abundant species of hickory in the oak-hickory forest association in the Eastern United States and Canada. Other common names are pignut, sweet pignut, coast pignut hickory, smoothbark hickory, swamp hickory, and broom hickory. The pear-shaped nut ripens in September and October, has a sweet maple like smell, and is an important part of the diet of many wild animals. The wood is used for a variety of products, including fuel for home heating. Its leaves turn yellow in the Fall.

<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>Rabdophaga rosaria</i> Species of fly

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.

<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 hastata</i> Species of flowering plant

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.

<i>Dorytomus taeniatus</i> Species of beetle

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.

<i>Salix cheilophila</i> Salix cheilophila common name

Salix cheilophila is a shrub or small tree from the genus of willow (Salix) with initially tomentose hairy and later balding branches. The leaf blades have lengths of 2.5 to sometimes 6 centimeters. The natural range of the species is in China.

<i>Salix eriostachya</i> Salix eriostachya common name

Salix eriostachya is a species from the genus of willows (Salix) and grows as a shrub. The leaf blades are 4 to 11 centimeters long. The natural range of the species is in India, Nepal, and China.

References

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  2. 1 2 "Salix nigra". Germplasm Resources Information Network . Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture.
  3. 1 2 Peattie, Donald Culross. Trees You Want to Know. Whitman Publishing Company, Racine, Wisconsin, 1934
  4. "Salix nigra". www.fs.fed.us. Retrieved 2020-11-29.
  5. "Salix nigra (Black Willow) | North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox". plants.ces.ncsu.edu. Retrieved 2020-11-29.
  6. Tree Species of the World's Boreal Forests: http://www.borealforest.org/world/trees/black_willow.htm
  7. Trees of the North Carolina Piedmont: Salix nigra
  8. New Brunswick tree and shrub species of concern: Salix nigra Archived 2007-11-06 at the Wayback Machine
  9. 1 2 "International Plant Names Index". www.ipni.org. Retrieved 2020-11-18.
  10. "Plants Profile for Salix gooddingii (Goodding's willow)". plants.usda.gov. Retrieved 2020-11-18.
  11. "SERNEC Collection Search Parameters". sernecportal.org. Retrieved 2020-11-18.
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  13. "Dictionary by Merriam-Webster: America's most-trusted online dictionary". www.merriam-webster.com. Retrieved 2020-11-29.
  14. "Salix nigra Marsh". www.srs.fs.usda.gov. Retrieved 2020-11-29.
  15. Pezeshki, S. Reza; Anderson, Peter H.; Shields, F. Douglas (September 1998). "Effects of soil moisture regimes on growth and survival of black willow (Salix nigra) posts (cuttings)". Wetlands. 18 (3): 460–470. doi:10.1007/bf03161538. ISSN   0277-5212. S2CID   23904993.
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  17. Marlboro Tree
  18. Gunn, John C. (1883). Gunn's Newest Family Physician. Google Books. pp. 807–811. Retrieved 2014-12-23.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  19. "BRIT - Native American Ethnobotany Database".
  20. "Black Willow, An American Wood" (PDF). United States Department of Agriculture. July 1985.
  21. 1 2 "Black Willow - Salix nigra". North American Insects & Spiders. Retrieved 2020-11-29.
  22. S. Li, L. Martin, S. Pezeshki and F. Shields, "Responses of black willow (Salix nigra) cuttings to simulated herbivory and flooding", Acta Oecologica, vol. 28, no. 2, pp. 173–180, 2005.
  23. Clemson University, "Salix nigra Marsh", /www.clemson.edu, 2016. [Online]. Available:http://www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/silvics_manual/volume_2/salix/nigra.htm.[Accessed: 10- Jun- 2016].
  24. 1 2 R. Conger, Black willow (Salix nigra) use in phytoremediation techniques to remove the herbicide bentazon from shallow groundwater. [Baton Rouge, La.]: [Louisiana State University], 2003.
  25. "Crown Galls". www.missouribotanicalgarden.org. Retrieved 2020-11-29.
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