Salix humboldtiana
Salix pellita
Humboldt's willow
satiny willow
branches (highly to ± brittle at base), red-brown, violet or yellow-brown, usually strongly glaucous, glabrescent;
branchlets yellow-brown or red-brown, (usually strongly glaucous), glabrous or densely to sparsely pubescent or tomentose, (buds caprea-type).
stipules absent or rudimentary on early ones, rudimentary, absent, or foliaceous on late ones;
petiole convex to flat, or shallowly grooved adaxially, 3–6.3–14 mm, (sometimes dark spherical glands distally), glabrous or pubescent adaxially;
largest medial blade linear, lorate, or narrowly elliptic 40–79–123 × 6–12–20 mm, (2.3–)4.2–7.2–11.3 times as long as wide, base convex or cuneate, margins strongly or slightly revolute, entire, sinuate or sometimes crenulate, (glands submarginal or epilaminal), apex acuminate to acute, abaxial surface glaucous (sometimes obscured by hairs), densely villous, short-silky, woolly, or tomentose to glabrescent, hairs (white, sometimes also ferruginous), straight or wavy, adaxial slightly to highly glossy, glabrous, sparsely villous or pubescent (hairs white, sometimes also ferruginous);
proximal blade margins entire;
juvenile blade reddish or yellowish green, densely tomentose, short-silky, pubescent, or glabrous abaxially, hairs white, sometimes also ferruginous.
adaxial nectary oblong or narrowly oblong, 0.6–1 mm;
filaments distinct, glabrous or hairy basally;
anthers purple turning yellow, ellipsoid, 0.4–0.6 mm.
adaxial nectary oblong to depressed-ovate, 0.3–1 mm, shorter than or equal to stipe;
stipe 0.5–1.1 mm;
ovary pyriform, short-silky, beak sometimes slightly bulged below styles;
ovules 10–18 per ovary;
styles 0.6–1.5 mm;
stigmas slenderly cylindrical, 0.4–0.55–0.76 mm.
3.5–6.5 mm.
humboldtiana Willdenow: Humboldt willow is not known to occur in the flora area.
is characterized by: trees, 4–25 m;
branches highly brittle at base, bud-scale margins distinct and overlapping adaxially;
stipules on late leaves rudimentary or foliaceous;
largest medial leaf blade usually linear, abaxial surface not glaucous, adaxial dull;
pistillate bract deciduous after flowering;
stamens 3–7;
capsules with distinct, often raised, white veins.;
it occurs throughout much of Mexico to central Chile.
flowering before leaves emerge;
staminate stout, 20–39 × 7–20 mm, flowering branchlet 0–2 mm;
pistillate densely flowered, slender, stout, or subglobose, 19–65(–80 in fruit) × 7–17 mm, flowering branchlet 0–7 mm;
floral bract tawny, brown, or black, 1–2.6 mm, apex acute, convex, or rounded, abaxially hairy, hairs straight.
= 38.
Salix humboldtiana
Salix pellita
Salix humboldtiana is closely related to S. nigra in its generally narrow leaf blades, which are not glaucous abaxially. The two differ in the following characters: S. humboldtiana has leaf blades linear to sometimes narrowly oblong (10–28.6 times as long as wide), ovaries usually ovoid to ellipsoid, ovary walls often stomatiferous and with raised, white veins, and capsule valves relatively thick, slightly recurved. S. nigra has leaf blades usually narrowly lanceolate (6–13 times as long as wide), ovaries pyriform to obclavate, ovary walls neither stomatiferous nor notably veined, and capsule valves relatively thin and strongly recurved. Both species occur in Chihuahua, Mexico.
The report by R. I. Lonard et al. (1991) that specimens identified as Salix nigra from the lower Rio Grande, Texas, resemble S. humboldtiana in having strongly veined capsules suggests that S. humboldtiana, or intergrades with that species, may occur in Texas. Attempts to locate a voucher specimen were unsuccessful; because strongly veined capsules are diagnostic, further field study is indicated.
An earlier name, Salix chilensis Molina, has been applied to this species; it does not seem to pertain to this taxon (C. K. Schneider 1918).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Salix pellita sometimes has foliaceous stipules on late leaves. When present, they are correlated with hairy rather than glabrous branchlets. There is no clear evidence of hybridity in such specimens but further study is indicated.
Vegetative specimens of Salix pellita can be difficult to separate from S. viminalis and S. ×smithiana in eastern Canada, where the latter were introduced for coarse basketry and have become naturalized. The introduced species usually are tall shrubs to small trees, with branches usually flexible at base and not strongly glaucous, and their leaves tend to be broader. In contrast, S. pellita is a mid shrub rarely to 6 m but never tree-like, its branches usually are highly brittle at the base and often strongly glaucous, and its leaves tend to be narrower.
See 85. Salix drummondiana for further comparative descriptions.
Hybrids:
Salix pellita forms natural hybrids with S. alaxensis var. alaxensis, S. discolor, S. pedicellaris, S. petiolaris, and S. planifolia.
Salix pellita × S. petiolaris: Leaves of this hybrid are distinctly serrate and flat, as in S. petiolaris, but branchlets are glaucous and bud gradation is caprea-type as in S. pellita. It is uncommon in eastern Saskatchewan.
Salix pellita × S. planifolia: This cross is suspected to occur in Labrador, Newfoundland, Quebec, and Ontario. Both parents are tetraploids and flower at the same time. The name S. pellita forma psila may apply to this hybrid.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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