Salix cinerea
Salix herbacea
gray willow, large gray or gray willow, large gray willow
snow-bed willow
erect;
branches red-brown to violet, (sometimes weakly glaucous), glabrous;
branchlets yellow-brown or red-brown, glabrous.
stipules rudimentary or foliaceous on early ones, foliaceous on late ones, apex acute or rounded;
petiole convex to flat adaxially, 4–15 mm, tomentose adaxially;
largest medial blade elliptic, broadly elliptic, oblanceolate, or obovate, 65–105 × 22–52 mm, 2–3 times as long as wide, base convex or cuneate, margins slightly revolute, entire, crenate, or sinuate, (glands submarginal), apex acuminate or convex, abaxial surface glaucous, tomentose, hairs erect or spreading, curly, adaxial dull or slightly glossy, pubescent or tomentose;
proximal blade margins entire;
juvenile blade yellowish green, sparsely to densely tomentose abaxially, hairs white.
stipules absent;
petiole (convex or flat to deeply grooved adaxially), 1.5–6(–7) mm;
largest medial blade (2 pairs of secondary veins arising at or close to base, arcing) circular, subcircular or broadly elliptic, 6–21(–34) × 6–17(–31) mm, 0.9–1.4 times as long as wide, base usually subcordate or cordate, sometimes convex or rounded, margins flat, crenulate or crenate, apex rounded, convex, retuse, or toothed, abaxial surface (not glaucous), glabrous, adaxial slightly glossy to almost dull, glabrous;
proximal blade margins crenulate;
juvenile blade glabrous.
adaxial nectary oblong or ovate, 0.5–1 mm;
filaments distinct, glabrous or hairy basally;
anthers yellow or purple turning yellow, ellipsoid or shortly cylindrical, 0.7–1 mm.
abaxial nectary 0.5–0.8 mm, adaxial nectary oblong or ovate, 0.6–1.1 mm, nectaries distinct, or connate and shallowly cup-shaped;
filaments distinct, glabrous, or hairy on proximal 1/2;
anthers shortly cylindrical or globose, 0.3–0.6 mm.
adaxial nectary oblong or square, 0.4–1 mm, shorter than stipe;
stipe 1.2–2.7 mm;
ovary pyriform, long-silky, beak slightly bulged below styles;
ovules 12 per ovary;
styles 0.2–0.5 mm;
stigmas slenderly or broadly cylindrical, 0.3–0.6 mm.
abaxial nectary (0–)0.2–0.3 mm, adaxial nectary narrowly oblong or oblong, 0.3–1.1 mm, longer or shorter than stipe, nectaries distinct or connate and shallowly cup-shaped;
stipe 0.3–1.1 mm;
ovary pyriform or ovoid, glabrous, beak abruptly tapering to styles;
ovules 11–18 per ovary;
styles connate to distinct, 0.2–0.4 mm;
stigmas broadly cylindrical or 2 plump lobes, 0.08–0.24–0.32 mm.
5–5.6 mm.
2.2–7.5 mm.
flowering before leaves emerge; staminate stout or subglobose, 26–39 × 12–26 mm, flowering branchlet 0–5 mm; pistillate densely flowered, stout or subglobose, 27–54(–75 in fruit) × 4–15 mm, flowering branchlet 1–5(–10) mm;
floral bract dark brown, black, or bicolor, 2–3 mm, apex acute or convex, abaxially hairy, hairs straight.
from subterminal buds; staminate 3–7.5 × 1.5–5 mm, flowering branchlet 0.3–2 mm; pistillate loosely flowered (2–11 flowers), stout to globose, 3.3–13 × 2–10 mm, flowering branchlet 0.8–3.5 mm;
floral bract tawny, light rose, or brown, 0.5–1.5 mm, margins ciliate, apex rounded, retuse, or truncate, entire, abaxially glabrous.
= 76.
= 38.
Salix cinerea
Salix herbacea
The Ohio occurrence of Salix cinerea is based on information from T. Cooperrider (pers. comm.).
Salix cinerea and S. atrocinerea are very closely related. Their occurrence in the flora area, as naturalized introductions, is not well understood, probably because they usually are introduced under the name S. caprea, and that species often is not treated in North American floristic literature (e.g., C. K. Schneider 1921; M. L. Fernald 1950). They probably are introductions of long-standing brought to the New World for their value as ornamentals and bee-plants. Salix atrocinerea was first documented in the southeastern United States (G. W. Argus 1986) after plants with ferruginous hairs and prominently striate wood were found in North Carolina; since that time, it has been found in other states and provinces. In the northeastern states, S. atrocinerea and S. cinerea are thought to be invasive species. The species do reproduce by seed and hundreds of seedlings were observed in a drained reservoir (A. Zinovjev, pers. comm.) and on sandy pond shores (T. Rawinski, pers. comm.), where they are thought to compete with native species.
The presence of long, prominent, striae on the peeled wood of 4–5 year old branches is commonly used in European literature (K. H. Rechinger 1993; A. K. Skvortsov 1999) to separate Salix cinerea and S. atrocinerea from S. caprea etc., in which the wood is smooth or with fewer, shorter striae. In the flora area, long striae also occur in S. bebbiana, S. discolor, and S. humilis, but usually they are not as long as or as prominent in S. cinerea and S. atrocinerea. Some floras (e.g., F. Martini and P. Paiero 1988) use the relative prominence of striae to separate S. cinerea and S. atrocinerea, but their separation remains difficult. The presence of ferruginous hairs on the leaves of S. atrocinerea is the best diagnostic characteristic, but they are not always present or easily observed. For a comparison of these species, see the key to species under subg. Vetrix. For further discussion of morphologies, see Salix ×smithiana Willdenow [p. 132] and 76. S. discolor.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Salix herbacea is the only willow with an amphi-Atlantic distribution. Disjunct populations occur as far west as Great Bear and Great Slave lakes, Northwest Territories. Macrofossils show that, during the late-Wisconsinan period, it occurred in North America along the glacial margin between Minnesota (R. G. Baker et al. 1999) and Cambridge, Massachusetts (G. W. Argus and M. B. Davis 1962). D. J. Beerling (1998) provided a comprehensive review of its biology and ecology.
Hybrids:
Salix herbacea forms natural hybrids with S. arctica, S. argyrocarpa, S. fuscescens, and S. uva-ursi.
Salix herbacea × S. uva-ursi (S. ×peasei Fernald) was described from Mt. Washington, New Hampshire, but occurs also in northern Quebec (G. W. Argus, unpubl.). It is morphologically intermediate between the parents. Its distinctly crenulate, broadly obovate leaves are similar to those of S. herbacea, its catkins are smaller and have fewer flowers than those of S. uva-ursi but more flowers than those of S. herbacea, its leaves are sparsely glaucous abaxially, and it has stems stouter than those of S. uva-ursi.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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