Salix cinerea

Taxobox
name = "Salix cinerea"


image_width = 240px
image_caption = "Salix cinerea" subsp. "cinerea", Germany
regnum = Plantae
divisio = Magnoliophyta
classis = Magnoliopsida
ordo = Malpighiales
familia = Salicaceae
genus = "Salix"
species = "S. cinerea"
binomial = "Salix cinerea"
binomial_authority = L.
range_

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range_map_width = 240px
range_map_caption = Green: "Salix cinerea" subsp. "cinerea"
Orange: "Salix cinerea" subsp. "oleifolia".

"Salix cinerea" (Grey Willow; also occasionally Grey Sallow) is a species of willow native to Europe and western Asia.Meikle, R. D. (1984). "Willows and Poplars of Great Britain and Ireland". BSBI Handbook No. 4. ISBN 0-901158-07-0.] 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.]

It is a deciduous shrub or small tree growing to 4-15 m 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.

There are two subspecies:
*"Salix cinerea" subsp. "cinerea". Central and eastern Europe, western Asia. Shrub to 4–6 m (rarely 10 m) tall, with smooth bark. Leaves densely hairy below with pale yellow-grey hairs; stipules large, persistent until autumn.
*"Salix cinerea" subsp. "oleifolia" (Sm.) Macreight (syn. "S. atrocinerea" Brot.). Western Europe, northwest Africa. Shrub or tree to 10–15 m tall, with furrowed bark. Leaves thinly hairy below with dark red-brown hairs; stipules small, early deciduous.

There is some overlap in the distributions (not indicated in the map, right), with both occurring in a broad band north to south through France, and scattered specimens of subsp. "cinerea" west to Ireland, western France, and Morocco; scattered specimens of subsp. "oleifolia" occur east to the Netherlands. Specimens of subsp. "oleifolia" in southern Scandinavia are planted or naturalised, not native. Intermediate specimens also occur.

Ecology

It usually grows in wetlands. The two subspecies differ slightly in requirements, with subsp. "cinerea" generally restricted to basic marshland and fen habitats, while subsp. "oleifolia" is less demanding, occurring in both basic marshes and acidic bogs and streamsides.

References