Salix viminalis
Salix humboldtiana
basket willow, common osier, osier, osier willow, silky osier
Humboldt's willow
branches yellow-brown, gray-brown, or yellowish, not glaucous, glabrous or puberulent;
branchlets yellow-brown or yellowish (sometimes color obscured by hairs), glabrous, densely to sparsely villous, velvety, or puberulent.
stipules (not adnate to petioles), rudimentary or absent on early ones, (late ones sometimes brownish, linear, 5.4–10.4 mm), apex acuminate;
petiole shallowly grooved adaxially, 4–13 mm, villous, puberulent, or velvety adaxially;
largest medial blade linear, lorate, narrowly oblong, or narrowly elliptic, 53–130 × 5–33 mm, base cuneate, margins strongly revolute, sinuate or apparently entire, (glands epilaminal), apex acuminate, acute, or convex, abaxial surface apparently glaucous (obscured by hairs), densely short-silky, woolly, or tomentose, (midribs prominent, yellowish, and hairy), hairs appressed, spreading or erect, straight or wavy, adaxial dull or slightly glossy, sparsely or moderately densely pubescent, hairs gray;
proximal blade margins entire;
juvenile blade yellowish green, very densely tomentose or short-silky abaxially, hairs white.
adaxial nectary narrowly oblong or oblong, 0.6–1.5 mm;
filaments distinct;
anthers purple turning yellow, ellipsoid to shortly cylindrical, 0.6–0.8 mm.
adaxial nectary narrowly oblong or oblong, 0.9–1.4 mm;
ovary pyriform, beak gradually tapering to styles;
ovules 12–18 per ovary;
styles 0.6–1.8 mm.
4–6 mm.
flowering just before or as leaves emerge; staminate stout, 24–48 mm, flowering branchlet 0–2 mm; pistillate densely flowered, 23–55 mm, flowering branchlet 0–6 mm;
floral bract brown or tawny, 1.6–2.2 mm, apex convex or rounded, abaxially hairy, hairs straight.
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.
= 38.
Salix viminalis
Salix humboldtiana
Salix ×smithiana (S. caprea × S. viminalis) is distinguished from S. viminalis by having leaf blades usually broad, 2.8–4.9(–6.4) times as long as wide, stipes 0.9–2 mm, ovaries short-silky, branches ± brittle at base, and petioles flat to convex adaxially; S. viminalis has leaf blades usually very narrow, 4.7–13.7 times as long as wide, stipes 0.1–0.5 mm, ovaries long-silky, branches flexible at base, and petioles shallowly grooved adaxially.
See Salix ×smithiana [p. 132] and 86. S. pellita for further comparative descriptions.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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.)
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