Salix interior
Salix pellita
sandbar 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 or foliaceous on late ones;
petiole 1–5(–9) mm, glabrous or sparsely villous adaxially;
largest medial blade linear to lorate, 60–160 × 4–11 mm, (6.5–)11–19(–31) times as long as wide, base cuneate, margins flat, remotely spinulose-serrulate (teeth 2–5 per cm), apex acute or subacuminate, abaxial surface thinly glaucous, densely villous or long-silky to glabrescent, adaxial slightly glossy, pilose or densely villous to glabrescent;
proximal blade margins entire;
juvenile blade reddish or yellowish green, moderately densely to sparsely long-silky abaxially.
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.
abaxial nectary 0.5–1.1 mm, adaxial nectary ovate, narrowly oblong, or flask-shaped, 0.6–1.4 mm, nectaries distinct;
filaments hairy;
anthers 0.4–0.9 mm.
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 narrowly oblong, 0.4–1.1 mm, shorter to longer than stipe;
stipe 0.4–0.8 mm;
ovary obclavate to pyriform, glabrous, glabrescent, or long-silky, beak abruptly tapering to styles;
ovules 16–36 per ovary;
styles 0–0.2 mm;
stigmas flat, abaxially non-papillate with pointed tip, or broadly cylindrical, 0.3–0.7 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.
(4–)5–8(–10) mm.
3.5–6.5 mm.
(flowering throughout season); staminate 20–61 × 4–10 mm, flowering branchlet 3–20 mm; pistillate loosely flowered, slender or stout, 20–67 × 5–9 mm, flowering branchlet 3–19 mm;
floral bract (sometimes greenish), 1.5–3.5 mm, apex acute, acuminate, or rounded, entire, erose, or toothed, abaxially hairy either proximally or distally, hairs wavy.
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.
= 38.
Salix interior
Salix pellita
Sometimes Salix interior is treated as a subspecies of S. exigua (R. D. Dorn 1998). Salix exigua and S. interior hybridize and apparently intergrade in the western Great Plains; because the area of overlap is relatively small and distinctiveness of the two taxa is not compromised by hybridization and introgression, it is best to treat them as separate species.
Leaves on sylleptic shoots are usually very densely silky. Salix interior sometimes has shoots that arise from buds on either side of the normal axillary bud. They do not seem to be directly related to the stipules because they are enclosed by the petiole. Catkins with both staminate and pistillate flowers are rare in S. interior, but a Quebec specimen had some catkins predominantly pistillate and others staminate; most were a mixture. The flowers were not teratological, but a mature capsule contained aborted ovules.
Hybrids:
Salix interior forms natural hybrids with S. exigua var. exigua. Controlled pollinations using S. interior (as S. exigua) from southern Ontario (A. Mosseler 1990) successfully produced F1 hybrids with S. bebbiana, S. discolor, S. eriocephala, and S. petiolaris. Seed production was usually relatively low, except in crosses with S. discolor. In general, F1 viability was relatively low in crosses with these members of subg. Vetrix. No seeds were produced in crosses with members of subgenera Protitea or Salix. Morphology of the hybrids usually was intermediate between the two parents, but when S. petiolaris was used as the maternal parent, the F1s more closely resembled that species. J. Salick and E. Pfeffer (1999) extended these findings to show that, although crosses between S. interior (as S. exigua) and S. eriocephala are partially sterile, their clonal growth parameters (sprouting, shoot length, and biomass production) are strong and thus permit these partially sterile hybrids to exist as successful individuals and perhaps to “... make a contribution to interspecific gene flow over time.” Of particular taxonomic interest is that, in this cross, the staminate parent has a significant influence on leaf shape, whereas in the cross S. eriocephala × S. petiolaris it is the pistillate parent that is significant for leaf shape. Relatively few hybrids resembling those produced by Mosseler have been recognized in nature, but it is possible that the unusually broadly leaved plants named S. interior var. exterior and var. wheeleri, from northern Maine, Nebraska, New York, and West Virginia, and probably elsewhere, may be hybrids. Phenological isolation may be strong enough to prevent crosses in nature (A. Mosseler and C. S. Papadopol 1989) with the earlier flowering S. eriocephala and S. petiolaris, a barrier that even an occasional period of overlap cannot breach.
(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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