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beak willow, Bebb willow, Bebb's willow, gray or Bebb's or long-beak willow, gray willow, grey willow, long-beak willow

autumn willow

Habit Shrubs, 1–5 m. Stems: branches usually flexible at base, sometimes brittle, yellow-brown, red-brown, or gray-brown, glabrous, slightly glossy or dull; branchlets yellow-brown or red-brown, glabrous, slightly or highly glossy.
Stems

branches divaricate, sometimes ± brittle at base, yellow-brown to dark red-brown, not or weakly glaucous, pilose to glabrescent, peeled wood often with very dense striae, to 25 mm;

branchlets yellow-green or red-brown, moderately to very densely villous to glabrescent.

Leaves

stipules rudimentary or absent on early ones, apex acute, acuminate, or convex;

petiole convex to flat adaxially, 2–5.5–13 mm, pubescent adaxially;

largest medial blade narrowly oblong, narrowly elliptic, elliptic, oblanceolate, or obovate, 20–44–87 × 10–16–45 mm, base cuneate, convex, or rounded, margins flat, entire, crenate, or irregularly serrate, glands submarginal, apex acute, acuminate, or convex, abaxial surface glaucous, moderately densely pubescent or long-silky to glabrescent, hairs white or gray, wavy, adaxial finely impressed-reticulate, dull or slightly glossy, moderately densely pubescent, sparsely short-silky, or glabrescent, hairs white or gray;

proximal blade margins entire, gland-dotted;

juvenile blade yellowish green or reddish, pilose or sparsely to moderately densely tomentose or long-silky abaxially, hairs white.

stipules absent or rudimentary;

petiole shallowly to deeply grooved adaxially, 3–13 mm, with pairs of spherical glands distally or throughout, glabrous adaxially;

largest medial blade hypostomatous or hemiamphistomatous, narrowly oblong, very narrowly elliptic, elliptic, lanceolate, or narrowly ovate, 43–110 × 9–33 mm, 2.4–6 times as long as wide, base convex or cuneate, margins flat, serrulate, apex acuminate, caudate, or acute, abaxial surface usually not glaucous, sometimes thinly so (appearing pale green), slightly glossy, glabrous, adaxial highly glossy, glabrous;

proximal blade margins serrulate or entire;

juvenile blade reddish or yellowish green, glabrous abaxially.

Staminate flowers

adaxial nectary oblong or ovate, 0.3–0.8 mm;

filaments distinct or connate less than 1/2 their lengths, glabrous or hairy on proximal 1/2;

anthers yellow or purple turning yellow, ellipsoid or shortly cylindrical, 0.5–0.8 mm.

abaxial nectary 0.5–1.1 mm, adaxial nectary oblong or ovate, 0.4–1.1 mm, nectaries distinct or connate and cup-shaped;

stamens 3–9;

filaments distinct or basally connate, hairy on proximal 1/2 or basally;

anthers ellipsoid or shortly cylindrical, 0.5–0.7 mm.

Pistillate flowers

adaxial nectary oblong or square, 0.3–0.8 mm;

ovary obclavate, beak slightly bulged below styles (long-beaked);

ovules 6–16 per ovary;

styles 0.1–0.4 mm;

stigmas slenderly to broadly cylindrical.

adaxial nectary ovate, oblong, or flask-shaped, 0.3–1.1 mm, shorter than stipe;

stipe 1.2–2.4 mm;

ovary pyriform to obclavate, beak slightly bulged below or abruptly tapering to styles;

ovules 12–16 per ovary;

styles connate, 0.3–1 mm;

stigmas flat, abaxially non-papillate with rounded tip, or slenderly cylindrical, 0.4–0.7 mm.

Capsules

5–9 mm.

7–12 mm.

Catkins

staminate flowering just before leaves emerge, pistillate flowering as leaves emerge; staminate stout to globose, 10–42 × 7–16 mm, flowering branchlet 0.5–11 mm; pistillate loosely flowered, stout, slender, or subglobose, 16.5–85 × 9–32 mm, flowering branchlet 1–26 mm;

floral bract tawny, 1.2–3.2 mm, apex rounded, abaxially hairy to glabrescent, hairs straight or wavy.

staminate (stout), 25–53 × 12–16 mm, flowering branchlet 5–14 mm; pistillate (fruiting in autumn, often persistent) moderately densely to loosely flowered, stout to globose, 17–42(–65 in fruit) × 11–22 mm, flowering branchlet 5–32(–65 in fruit) mm;

floral bract (sometimes greenish tawny), 1.2–4 mm, apex acute, rounded, or truncate, glandular-toothed, abaxially moderately densely hairy, hairs straight or wavy.

2n

= 38.

= 76.

Salix bebbiana

Salix serissima

Phenology Flowering early Apr-late Jun. Flowering early Jun-early Jul.
Habitat Riparian and upland conifer forests, wet lowland thickets, Picea mariana treed bogs, stream margins, lakeshores, prairie margins, dry south-facing slopes, cienegas, seeps, disturbed areas Wet thickets, fens, brackish marshy strands, marly lakeshores, treed bogs, gravelly stream banks, lakeshores
Elevation 0-3300 m (0-10800 ft) 10-3000 m (0-9800 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; AZ; CA; CO; CT; IA; ID; IL; IN; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MT; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; OR; PA; RI; SD; UT; VT; WA; WI; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NL; NS; NT; NU; ON; PE; QC; SK; YT; Asia
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CO; CT; IL; IN; MA; MI; MN; MT; ND; NJ; NY; OH; PA; SD; VT; WI; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NL; NT; NU; QC; SK
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Salix bebbiana occurs in Nunavut on Akimiski Island in James Bay.

Hybrids:

Salix bebbiana forms natural hybrids with S. candida, S. geyeriana, S. humilis, and S. petiolaris. Reports of hybrids with S. discolor (C. K. Schneider 1921; M. L. Fernald 1950) are not based on convincing specimens, and synthetic hybrids could not be made (G. W. Argus 1974). Reports of hybrids with S. eriocephala and S. myricoides (Fernald) are unverified. Controlled pollinations with S. eriocephala and S. interior had low seed viability (A. Mosseler 1990).

Salix bebbiana × S. candida (S. ×cryptodonta Fernald, as species) is intermediate between parental species. It resembles S. candida in having juvenile leaves densely woolly, mature leaves sparsely to moderately woolly abaxially, margins strongly revolute to crenulate, and ovaries woolly; and S. bebbiana in having stipes 2.8–3 mm and capsules long-beaked, 8–9 mm. The hybrid commonly occurs in Newfoundland.

Salix bebbiana × S. geyeriana: A plant with the pistillate catkins and flowers of S. bebbiana and the narrow, entire or slightly serrulate leaves with white and ferruginous hairs of S. geyeriana was collected by R. D. Dorn in a mixed population in Montana (Beaverhead County).

Salix bebbiana × S. humilis: Reported by C. K. Schneider (1921) and M. L. Fernald (1950) and successfully synthesized by G. W. Argus (1974, 1986).

Salix bebbiana × S. petiolaris is known from Ontario, based on an infertile pistillate specimen, and from Alberta and Saskatchewan, where it is relatively uncommon. It was successfully synthesized (G. W. Argus 1974, 1986) and controlled pollinations showed high seed viability (A. Mosseler 1990).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Salix serissima is found in Nunavut only on Akimiski Island in James Bay.

Flowering of Salix serissima is often described as serotinous (i.e., long after leaves emerge), but actually, they flower just as leaves emerge. Although they flower only a little later in spring than related species, they set fruit in late summer, and fruiting catkins often persist throughout winter. Their seeds remain dormant throughout the winter and germinate in the spring, thus enabling them to invade fens by completing their first annual growth before the sedges and grasses are tall enough to shade them out. This strategy has been reported to occur also in the related S. pentandra (A. K. Skvortsov 1999).

North American Salix serissima is closely related to Eurasian S. pseudopentandra (Floderus) Floderus (A. K. Skvortsov 1999), which is known in China as S. pentandra var. intermedia Nakai and possibly also S. humaensis Y. L. Chou & R. C. Chou (Fang Z. F. et al. 1999). The relationship of S. serissima and S. pseudopentandra is similar to that of S. arbusculoides and S. boganidensis (G. W. Argus 1997). These two species, along with the amphiberingian S. vestita, are relictual members of former panboreal distributions.

Hybrids:

Hybrids between Salix lucida and S. serissima have been reported (M. L. Fernald 1950); no convincing specimens have been seen.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 7, p. 134. FNA vol. 7, p. 45.
Parent taxa Salicaceae > Salix > subg. Vetrix > sect. Fulvae Salicaceae > Salix > subg. Salix > sect. Salicaster
Sibling taxa
S. alaxensis, S. alba, S. amygdaloides, S. arbusculoides, S. arctica, S. arctophila, S. argyrocarpa, S. arizonica, S. athabascensis, S. atrocinerea, S. aurita, S. babylonica, S. ballii, S. barclayi, S. barrattiana, S. bonplandiana, S. boothii, S. brachycarpa, S. breweri, S. calcicola, S. candida, S. caprea, S. caroliniana, S. cascadensis, S. chamissonis, S. chlorolepis, S. cinerea, S. columbiana, S. commutata, S. cordata, S. daphnoides, S. delnortensis, S. discolor, S. drummondiana, S. eastwoodiae, S. elaeagnos, S. eriocephala, S. euxina, S. exigua, S. famelica, S. farriae, S. floridana, S. fuscescens, S. geyeriana, S. glauca, S. gooddingii, S. hastata, S. herbacea, S. hookeriana, S. humboldtiana, S. humilis, S. interior, S. irrorata, S. jejuna, S. jepsonii, S. laevigata, S. lasiandra, S. lasiolepis, S. lemmonii, S. ligulifolia, S. lucida, S. lutea, S. maccalliana, S. melanopsis, S. monochroma, S. monticola, S. myricoides, S. myrsinifolia, S. myrtillifolia, S. nigra, S. niphoclada, S. nivalis, S. nummularia, S. orestera, S. ovalifolia, S. pedicellaris, S. pellita, S. pentandra, S. petiolaris, S. petrophila, S. phlebophylla, S. planifolia, S. polaris, S. prolixa, S. pseudomonticola, S. pseudomyrsinites, S. pulchra, S. purpurea, S. pyrifolia, S. raupii, S. reticulata, S. richardsonii, S. rotundifolia, S. scouleriana, S. sericea, S. serissima, S. sessilifolia, S. setchelliana, S. silicicola, S. sitchensis, S. sphenophylla, S. stolonifera, S. taxifolia, S. thurberi, S. tracyi, S. triandra, S. turnorii, S. tweedyi, S. tyrrellii, S. uva-ursi, S. vestita, S. viminalis, S. wolfii, S. ×fragilis, S. ×jesupii, S. ×pendulina, S. ×sepulcralis, S. ×smithiana
S. alaxensis, S. alba, S. amygdaloides, S. arbusculoides, S. arctica, S. arctophila, S. argyrocarpa, S. arizonica, S. athabascensis, S. atrocinerea, S. aurita, S. babylonica, S. ballii, S. barclayi, S. barrattiana, S. bebbiana, S. bonplandiana, S. boothii, S. brachycarpa, S. breweri, S. calcicola, S. candida, S. caprea, S. caroliniana, S. cascadensis, S. chamissonis, S. chlorolepis, S. cinerea, S. columbiana, S. commutata, S. cordata, S. daphnoides, S. delnortensis, S. discolor, S. drummondiana, S. eastwoodiae, S. elaeagnos, S. eriocephala, S. euxina, S. exigua, S. famelica, S. farriae, S. floridana, S. fuscescens, S. geyeriana, S. glauca, S. gooddingii, S. hastata, S. herbacea, S. hookeriana, S. humboldtiana, S. humilis, S. interior, S. irrorata, S. jejuna, S. jepsonii, S. laevigata, S. lasiandra, S. lasiolepis, S. lemmonii, S. ligulifolia, S. lucida, S. lutea, S. maccalliana, S. melanopsis, S. monochroma, S. monticola, S. myricoides, S. myrsinifolia, S. myrtillifolia, S. nigra, S. niphoclada, S. nivalis, S. nummularia, S. orestera, S. ovalifolia, S. pedicellaris, S. pellita, S. pentandra, S. petiolaris, S. petrophila, S. phlebophylla, S. planifolia, S. polaris, S. prolixa, S. pseudomonticola, S. pseudomyrsinites, S. pulchra, S. purpurea, S. pyrifolia, S. raupii, S. reticulata, S. richardsonii, S. rotundifolia, S. scouleriana, S. sericea, S. sessilifolia, S. setchelliana, S. silicicola, S. sitchensis, S. sphenophylla, S. stolonifera, S. taxifolia, S. thurberi, S. tracyi, S. triandra, S. turnorii, S. tweedyi, S. tyrrellii, S. uva-ursi, S. vestita, S. viminalis, S. wolfii, S. ×fragilis, S. ×jesupii, S. ×pendulina, S. ×sepulcralis, S. ×smithiana
Synonyms S. rostrata, S. bebbiana var. capreifolia, S. bebbiana var. depilis, S. bebbiana var. luxurians, S. bebbiana var. perrostrata, S. bebbiana var. projecta, S. depressa subsp. rostrata S. lucida var. serissima
Name authority Sargent: Gard. & Forest 8: 463. (1895) (L. H. Bailey) Fernald: Rhodora 6: 6. (1903)
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