Salix cinerea

Salix cinerea
Salix cinerea subsp. cinerea, Germany
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Rosids
Order: Malpighiales
Family: Salicaceae
Genus: Salix
Species: S. cinerea
Binomial name
Salix cinerea
L.
Green: Salix cinerea subsp. cinerea
Orange: Salix cinerea subsp. oleifolia

Salix cinerea (grey willow; also occasionally large gray willow[1] or grey sallow) is a species of willow native to Europe and western Asia.[2][3]


Plant

Close-ups of Salicaceae flowers,

It is a deciduous shrub or small tree growing to 4–15 m (13–49 ft) high. The leaves are spirally arranged, 2–9 cm long and 1–3 cm broad (exceptionally up to 16 cm long and 5 cm broad), green above, hairy below, with a crenate margin. The flowers are produced in early spring in catkins 2–5 cm long; it is dioecious with male and female catkins on separate plants. The male catkins are silvery at first, turning yellow when the pollen is released; the female catkins are greenish-grey, maturing in early summer to release the numerous tiny seeds embedded in white cottony down which assists wind dispersal.[2][3]

The two subspecies are:[2][3]

Some overlap in the distributions (not indicated in the map, right) occurs, with both occurring in a broad band north to south through France, and scattered specimens of S. c. cinerea west to Ireland, western France, and Morocco; scattered specimens of S. c. oleifolia occur east to the Netherlands. Specimens of S. c. oleifolia in southern Scandinavia are planted or naturalised, not native. Intermediate specimens also occur.[2][3]

Ecology

Salix cinerea seeds on a birch tree branch

It usually grows in wetlands. The two subspecies differ slightly in requirements, with S. c. cinerea generally restricted to basic marshland and fen habitats, while S. c. oleifolia is less demanding, occurring in both alkaline marshes and acidic bogs and streamsides.[2] A common herbivore of Salix cinerea is Phratora vulgatissima, which prefers and is more common on female plants.[4] Anthocoris nemorum, a natural enemy of Phratora vulgatissima, is also more common on S. cinerea.[4]

Invasive species

S. cinerea is an invasive species in New Zealand and is listed on the National Pest Plant Accord, which means it cannot be sold or distributed.

References

  1. "Salix cinerea". Natural Resources Conservation Service PLANTS Database. USDA. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Meikle, R. D. (1984). Willows and Poplars of Great Britain and Ireland. BSBI Handbook No. 4. ISBN 0-901158-07-0.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Christensen, K. I., & Nielsen, H. (1992). Rust-pil (Salix cinerea subsp. oleifolia) - en overset pil i Danmark og Skandinavien. Dansk Dendrologisk Årsskrift 10: 5-17.
  4. 1 2 Kabir, Faisal MD; Moritz, Kim K; Stenberg, Johan A (2015-04-19). "Plant-sex-biased tritrophic interactions on dioecious willow". Ecosphere. doi:10.1890/ES14-00356.1.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Salix cinerea.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, October 27, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.