Salix rotundifolia |
Salix ligulifolia |
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least willow, round-leaf willow |
strap-leaf willow, strap-leafed willow, tongue-leaf willow |
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Habit | Plants 0.005–0.05 m, (dwarf), forming clones by rhizomes. | Shrubs, 1–8 m. Stems: branches yellow-brown, gray-brown, or red-brown, not glaucous, glabrous or villous; branchlets yellow-green or yellow-brown, glabrous, sparsely to densely villous, or velvety, (inner membranaceous bud-scale layer free, not separating from outer layer). | ||||
Stems | erect; branches yellow-green, yellow-brown, or gray-brown, glabrous; branchlets yellow-brown or red-brown, glabrous; branches and branchlets sometimes weakly glaucous. |
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Leaves | (marcescent but not skeletonized), stipules usually absent or rudimentary, rarely present on late ones; petiole (convex, or shallowly to deeply grooved, flat), 0.4–4.6(–5.5) mm, (glabrous adaxially); largest medial blade (2 pairs of secondary veins arising at or close to base, arcing toward apex) broadly elliptic, subcircular, or circular, 1.9–16.3 × 3–10.5 mm, 0.84–1.17(–2.53) times as long as wide, base rounded or convex, margins flat, entire, ciliate, apex retuse, rounded, convex, or acute, abaxial surface glabrous, adaxial highly glossy, glabrous; proximal blade margins entire; juvenile blade glabrous or puberulent. |
stipules foliaceous, apex rounded, convex, acute or acuminate; petiole convex to flat, or shallowly grooved adaxially, 3–18 mm, glabrous, pilose, or velvety to glabrescent adaxially; largest medial blade lorate, narrowly oblong, or narrowly elliptic, 60–133 × 12–30 mm, 2.9–6.4 times as long as wide, base rounded, convex, or subcordate, margins flat, usually serrulate or serrate, rarely (apparently) entire, apex acuminate to acute, abaxial surface glaucous, glabrous, sparsely short-silky or pubescent, hairs straight or wavy, adaxial dull, glabrous, sparsely short-silky, or midrib pubescent; proximal blade margins entire, serrulate, or crenulate; juvenile blade reddish or yellowish green, glabrous or sparsely to moderately densely pilose or puberulent abaxially, hairs white. |
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Staminate flowers | abaxial nectary 0.5–1 mm, adaxial nectary narrowly oblong or oblong, 0.8–1.4 mm, nectaries distinct; filaments distinct or connate less than 1/2 their lengths, glabrous; anthers ellipsoid or globose, 0.4–0.6 mm. |
adaxial nectary narrowly oblong, oblong, flask-shaped, or triangular, 0.3–0.8 mm; filaments distinct or connate less than 1/2 their lengths (or appearing as a single stamen), glabrous or hairy basally; anthers purple or red turning yellow, (ellipsoid or globose), 0.5–0.8 mm. |
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Pistillate flowers | abaxial nectary present or absent, adaxial nectary usually narrowly oblong or oblong, sometimes flask-shaped, 0.8–2 mm, longer than stipe; stipe 0.4–0.8 mm; ovary pyriform, glabrous or puberulent, (hairs in patches, especially on beak), beak slightly bulged below styles; ovules 7–17 per ovary; styles connate or slightly distinct distally, 0.5–1 mm; stigmas flat, abaxially non-papillate with pointed tip, or slenderly or broadly cylindrical, 0.28–0.6 mm. |
adaxial nectary oblong, narrowly oblong, or flask-shaped, 0.3–0.9 mm, shorter than stipe; stipe 0.9–2.5 mm; ovary pyriform, glabrous, beak sometimes slightly bulged below styles; ovules 12–21 per ovary; styles 0.2–0.6 mm; stigmas flat, abaxially non-papillate with rounded tip, or slenderly cylindrical, 0.16–0.25–0.4 mm. |
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Capsules | 3.8–8.3 mm. |
4–6 mm. |
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Catkins | from subterminal buds; staminate subglobose, stout, or indeterminate, 3.3–18.5 × 2.5–12 mm, flowering branchlet 0.5–9 mm; pistillate moderately densely to loosely flowered (2–15 flowers), stout, subglobose, globose, or indeterminate, 4.5–35 × 2–17 mm, flowering branchlet 0.5–22 mm; floral bract brown, 1.6–2.8 mm, apex rounded or retuse, entire, abaxially sparsely hairy or ciliate, hairs usually wavy, crinkled or curly, rarely straight. |
flowering as or just before leaves emerge; staminate stout, 20.5–34 × 8–11 mm, flowering branchlet 0–3 mm; pistillate moderately densely flowered, slender to subglobose, 15.5–49 × 8–18 mm, flowering branchlet 1–6 mm; floral bract brown or bicolor, 0.8–1.6 mm, apex acute or rounded, abaxially hairy throughout or proximally (hairs usually arising from rachis), hairs wavy or curly. |
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2n | = 38. |
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Salix rotundifolia |
Salix ligulifolia |
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Phenology | Flowering late Mar-mid Jun(-late Jul). | |||||
Habitat | Banks and floodplains, cienegas, sandy-clay or gravelly substrates | |||||
Elevation | 0-3100 m (0-10200 ft) | |||||
Distribution |
AK; MT; WY; NT; YT; e Asia
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AZ; CA; CO; NM; OR; UT; WY
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Discussion | Varieties 2 (2 in the flora). Salix rotundifolia is closely related to S. polaris, from which it can be separated by its glabrous ovaries and fewer-flowered catkins. They also differ somewhat in leaf venation: S. rotundifolia typically having three main veins arising from the leaf base, often only one or two pair of secondary veins, and no or indistinct tertiary veins; S. polaris typically having pinnate venation, multiple secondary veins, and distinct tertiary veins. Salix rotundifolia consists of two varieties, the diploid var. dodgeana and the hexaploid var. rotundifolia. In general, var. dodgeana is a high alpine species in the southern cordillera of Wyoming and Montana, the St. Elias Mountains in Alaska and Yukon, the Mackenzie Mountains, Northwest Territories, and the Richardson Mountains, Yukon Territory. A diploid specimen of S. rotundifolia in the Cherski Mountains, Yakutia, Russia (B. A. Jurtzev and P. G. Zhukova 1982), which fits var. dodgeana in its 2–3-flowered catkins, relatively small leaves (3.5 × 3.9 mm), and small stomata (490 µm2), may represent an ancestral population. Variety rotundifolia usually occurs at lower elevations in Alaska and in easternmost Chukotka and Wrangel Island, Russia, but elevation separation is not distinct. There is a general correlation between stomatal size and ploidal level (W. Buechler, pers. comm.), but relatively large stomata in some diploid specimens of S. rotundifolia indicates a need for further cytological study. For the present, it is best to recognize the two cytotypes as varieties. Hybrids: Salix rotundifolia forms natural hybrids with S. arctica, S. phlebophylla, and S. polaris. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Salix ligulifolia sometimes has leaf teeth that are so short that it is referred to as “entire-leaved.” That condition is uncommon and, even when some leaves appear to be entire, others with fine serrulations can be found on the same plant. Hybrids: Salix ligulifolia forms natural hybrids with S. geyeriana. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 7, p. 69. | FNA vol. 7, p. 122. | ||||
Parent taxa | Salicaceae > Salix > subg. Chamaetia > sect. Herbella | Salicaceae > Salix > subg. Vetrix > sect. Cordatae | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Synonyms | S. lutea var. ligulifolia, S. eriocephala var. ligulifolia | |||||
Name authority | Trautvetter: Nouv. Mém. Soc. Imp. Naturalistes Moscou 2: 304, plate 11. (1832) | (C. R. Ball) C. R. Ball ex C. K. Schneider: J. Arnold Arbor. 2: 188. (1922) | ||||
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