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Pacific willow (var. lasiandra), shining willow, whiplash willow (ssp. caudata)

dark-leaf willow, myrsine-leaf willow

Habit Shrubs or trees, 4–6 m. Stems: branches flexible to highly brittle at base, yellow-brown, gray-brown, or red-brown, slightly to highly glossy, glabrous or villous to glabrescent; branchlets yellow-brown, gray-brown, or red-brown, glabrous, pilose, densely villous, or velvety, hairs spreading, straight, wavy, or crinkled.
Stems

branches dark red-brown or gray-brown, not glaucous, glabrous or hairy, (peeled wood smooth or striate with relatively few, short striae);

branchlets red-brown, moderately to very densely pubescent or velvety.

Leaves

stipules foliaceous, apex convex to rounded;

petiole shallowly to deeply grooved adaxially, 5–13 mm, with clusters of spherical or foliaceous glands distally, glabrous, pilose, or densely villous adaxially;

largest medial blade usually hypostomatous or hemiamphistomatous, rarely amphistomatous, lorate, very narrowly elliptic, narrowly elliptic, or lanceolate, (24–)55–133 × 11–43 mm, 2.5–6.2 times as long as wide, base convex or cuneate, margins flat, serrulate, apex acuminate to caudate, abaxial surface usually not glaucous (rarely so), glabrous, pilose, or moderately densely villous or long-silky, hairs appressed or spreading, white and/or ferruginous, straight or wavy, (coarse, caducous), adaxial (secondary veins flat or protruding), slightly or highly glossy, glabrous, pilose, or long-silky, hairs white and/or ferruginous;

proximal blade margins entire and glandular-dotted, or serrulate or crenulate;

juvenile blade reddish or yellowish green, glabrous or densely villous or long-silky abaxially, hairs white and ferruginous.

stipules usually foliaceous, sometimes minute rudiments on early ones, foliaceous on late ones, (ca. 4 mm), apex acute;

petiole convex to flat, or shallowly grooved adaxially, 3.5–12(–15) mm, villous to puberulent adaxially;

largest medial blade (sometimes hemiamphistomatous), broadly obovate, elliptic, broadly elliptic, or subcircular, 24–52(–100) × 12–45 mm, base concave, rounded, subcordate, cordate, or cuneate, margins sometimes slightly revolute, serrulate, or crenulate to subentire, apex abruptly acuminate or acute, abaxial surface glaucous (tip often not glaucous), sparsely to moderately densely puberulent, or silky to glabrescent, hairs appressed or spreading, straight or wavy, adaxial slightly glossy, glabrescent or sparsely to moderately densely puberulent, pubescent, or short-silky (especially midrib);

proximal blade margins serrulate, crenulate, or entire;

juvenile blade sometimes reddish, long-silky, villous, tomentose (at least on midrib), or glabrous abaxially, hairs usually white, rarely somewhat ferruginous.

Staminate flowers

abaxial nectary 0.5–1.1 mm, adaxial nectary square or ovate, 0.3–0.9 mm, nectaries connate and cup-shaped;

stamens 3–6;

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

anthers ellipsoid, shortly cylindrical, obovoid, or globose, 0.6–0.8 mm.

adaxial nectary 0.5–0.7 mm;

filaments distinct;

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

Pistillate flowers

adaxial nectary square or ovate, (swollen), 0.2–0.5 mm, shorter than stipe;

stipe 0.5–2 mm;

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

ovules 18–24 per ovary;

styles connate or distinct 1/2 their lengths, 0.5–0.8 mm;

stigmas flat, abaxially non-papillate with rounded tip, broadly cylindrical, or 2 plump lobes, 0.24–0.31–0.42 mm.

adaxial nectary ovate, square, or flask-shaped, 0.4–0.6(–1) mm;

ovary pyriform, pubescent throughout or in patches or streaks, or glabrous (hairs refractive), beak gradually tapering to styles;

ovules 12–14 per ovary;

styles 0.6–1.5 mm.

Capsules

5–7 mm.

6–10 mm.

Catkins

staminate 19–69 × 4–14 mm, flowering branchlet 5–23 mm; pistillate (fruiting in summer), moderately densely to loosely flowered, slender to stout, 23–56(–70 in fruit) × 8–12 mm, flowering branchlet 8–25 mm;

floral bract 1.5–3 mm, apex convex or rounded, entire or toothed, abaxially sparsely hairy throughout or proximally, hairs wavy.

flowering as leaves emerge; staminate (densely flowered), stout or subglobose, 17–35 mm, flowering branchlet 1–3 mm; pistillate densely flowered, stout, 9–11(–30)(–80 in fruit) mm, flowering branchlet 2–5.5 mm;

floral bract pale brown, 1–1.9(–2.8) mm, apex acute, convex, or rounded, abaxially sparsely hairy, hairs straight or wavy.

2n

= 76.

= 114.

Salix lucida

Salix myrsinifolia

Phenology Flowering early May-mid Jul. Flowering mid Mar-mid Jun.
Habitat Sandy or gravelly floodplains, lake margins, sedge meadows, vernal pools, alvars, open fens, marl bogs, treed bogs Roadsides, waste places
Elevation 0-600 m (0-2000 ft) ca. 100 m (ca. 300 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CT; DE; IA; IL; IN; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; ND; NH; NJ; NY; OH; PA; RI; SD; VA; VT; WI; WV; MB; NB; NL; NS; ON; PE; QC; SK; SPM
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
ON; Eurasia [Introduced in North America]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

The Virginia plants of Salix lucida are introduced (G. W. Argus 1986).

The Salix lucida complex is a group of three weakly delimited taxa, S. lasiandra var. caudata, S. lasiandra var. lasiandra, and S. lucida. The morphological characters used to separate them (leaves amphistomatous or hypostomatous and blades glaucous abaxially or not) are usually geographically correlated, but there are exceptions. G. W. Argus (1986b) proposed, based on principal components analysis of morphological data, to treat them as a single species consisting of three subspecies. The geographic overlap of the northeastern S. lucida and the western S. lasiandra is a relatively small area in central Saskatchewan. Evidence of intergradation was based on cultivation of a plant that, in the wild, had leaves that were not glaucous abaxially but were glaucous in cultivation. It seems best to treat them as two species, S. lucida and S. lasiandra, the latter with two varieties, var. lasiandra and var. caudata.

Hybrids:

Salix lucida forms natural hybrids with S. alba and S. nigra. Hybrids with S. serissima have been reported (M. L. Fernald 1950) but no convincing specimens have been seen. Attempts to hybridize S. lucida with members of subg. Protitea (S. amygdaloides), subg. Longifoliae (S. interior), and subg. Vetrix (S. discolor, S. eriocephala, and S. petiolaris) were unsuccessful (A. Mosseler 1990).

Salix lucida × S. nigra (S. ×schneideri B. Boivin) seems to be a rare intersubgeneric hybrid between tetraploid S. lucida and diploid S. nigra. It is known only from the type specimen, an infertile plant, growing with both parents. It resembles S. lucida in bud-scale margins connate, in petiolar glands stalked or foliaceous, and in leaf shape, and S. nigra in stipules rudimentary on proximal leaves and sometimes even on early leaves, stipule apex acute, pistillate catkins relatively long and slender, and styles relatively short.

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

Salix myrsinifolia may be naturalized in the vicinity of Ottawa, Ontario, but that needs confirmation.

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

Source FNA vol. 7, p. 46. FNA vol. 7, p. 125.
Parent taxa Salicaceae > Salix > subg. Salix > sect. Salicaster Salicaceae > Salix > subg. Vetrix > sect. Nigricantes
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. 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. 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. 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
Synonyms Pleiarina lucida, S. lucida var. angustifolia, S. lucida var. intonsa S. nigricans
Name authority Muhlenberg: Ges. Naturf. Freunde Berlin Neue Schriften 4: 239, plate 6, fig. 7. (1803) Salisbury: Prodr. Stirp. Chap. Allerton, 394. (1796)
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