Willow Family:-

Poplars are "deciduous trees, with broad long-stalked alternate leaves, and small flowers in hanging catkins, which appear before the leaves, the reddish male ones and the greenish female ones on separate trees. The fruiting catkins are woolly from the hairs on the minute seeds, littering the ground when they fall in early summer. Most Poplars sucker freely, and the leaves on these suckers, and sometimes also those produced on the tree in summer, differ from the spring leaves." from Collins Pocket Guide to Wild Flowers by David McClintock and R.S.R. Fitter assisted by Francis Rose - ISBN 0 00 219363 9 - Eleventh Impression 1978.

Willow Family plant table with its Common Name - Botanical Name. Flowering Months Range. Habitat with link to that Water Fern to Yew Wild Flower Families Gallery:-

Common Name

Botanical Name

Flowering Months

Habitat

Aspen

(European Aspen)

Populus tremula

March

A broad-crowned tree of moist clay or sandy soils in mixed broad-leaved woodlands, hedgerows, on heathland, in disused clay- and sand-pits, and occasionally in pine woods. In the north and west, it grows on cliffs, rocky outcrops and riverbanks, often as a shrub. It suckers to form thickets, and readily colonises bare ground. 0-640 m (Atholl, E. Perth).

Balsam Poplar

Populus x gileadensis

(Populus x jackii, Populus balsamifera x deltoides)

March

A deciduous tree which is most frequently planted in damp woods and by rivers and ponds, but is increasingly being planted in parks and along roadsides. Only female plants are known in our area but they often become naturalised by suckering. Lowland.

Black Italian Poplar

(Hybrid Black-poplar)

Populus x canadensis

(Populus deltoides x nigra)

April-May

A broad-crowned tree, usually found in plantations, as an amenity tree in parkland and along roadsides and hedgerows, and in screens and windbreaks. Tthe commonest of several similar Poplars widely planted in parks and hedgerows.

Form from Upchurch in Kent in August

Form from Upchurch in Kent in August

Black Poplar

(European Black Poplar)

Populus nigra

(Populus nigra subsp. betulifolia)

March-April

A majestic, broad-crowned tree which grows by watercourses, by ponds and in hedgerows, especially on lowland flood plains, and as an amenity tree in urban areas. Lowland.

Male Flowers from Darenth in Kent on 5 March

Male Flower from Darenth on 5 March

Foliage

Form

Grey Poplar

Populus canescens

(Populus alba x tremula)

March

This broad-crowned tree often grows as a solitary, usually male, specimen or among native trees and shrubs. It is planted in windbreaks and as an amenity tree, especially in damp woods and by streams. Lowland.

White Poplar

(Silver-leaf Poplar)

Populus alba

March

A broad-crowned tree which is most frequent as a female in amenity plantings along roadsides and in parks; also in windbreaks and on coastal dunes, but rarely in plantations. It suckers freely and sometimes becomes well-established, forming dense thickets. It is resistant to salt-laden winds. Lowland.

Wiilows, Sallows and Osiers are "a genus varying from prostrate creeping undershrubs to tall trees, all deciduous, mostly with alternate leaves; nearly always growing at least within reach of moisture. Some of the shrubby, broad-leaved ones are called Sallows or Pussy Willows; Osiers are shrubs with long pliant branches used for basket-work, often with very long narrow leaves. All have their small flowers in catkins, usually short and erect, the male and female on different plants. Male catkins are generally yellow, often white and silky at first, the female grey-green and less noticeable, going silky in fruit. The 2 kinds of catkin can l;ook so different, especially when there are no leaves and the bushes are far apart, that many people do not realise that they belong to the same species. Many, especially the Pussy Willows, expand their flowers on bare branches well before the leaves, and the male catkins, are then extremely attractive, and knows as 'Palm'. Most species have 2 stamens; to count them, and later to see the fruits on the female plants, the individual flowers must be separated in the catkin. A roundish scale will also be found at the base of each flower.

All the Willows hybridise very readily and indeed some hybrids are more frequent than some species. Nearly 50 hybrids are listed on page 744 of the first edition of Clapham, Tutinand Warburg's Flora of the British Isles, for those who wish for more details than be included here." from Collins Pocket Guide to Wild Flowers by David McClintock and R.S.R. Fitter assisted by Francis Rose - ISBN 0 00 219363 9 - Eleventh Impression 1978.

Almond Willow

Salix triandra

April-May with the leaves

A shrub or small tree which grows in damp or wet places, by rivers, streams and ponds and in marshes and osier-beds. Lowland.

Bay Willow

(Bay-leaved Willow)

Salix pentandra

May-June, with the leaves

A large shrub or small tree which grows in damp or wet ground, mostly in marshes, fens and wet woods, in winter-flooded dune-slacks and by ponds and streams; sometimes in drier sites such as shaded roadsides. Male plants are widely planted as ornamentals within and outside the native range. 0-410 m (Allendale, S. Northumb.).

Flower near Lochinver on 20 June

Flowers near Lochinver on 20 June

Foliage near Lochinver on 20 June

Form

Common Sallow

(Rusty Sallow, Large gray willow)

Salix atrocinerea

(Salix oleifera, Salix cinerea subsp. oleifolia)

March-April, before the leaves

A shrub or small tree which grows on acidic to base-rich soils in wet places by streams, bogs and marshes, and in hedgerows, woods, moist wood margins and other marginal habitats, colonising waste ground especially in damp places.

Crack Willow

Salix fragilis

April, with the leaves

A broad-crowned, often pollarded, tree which grows in hedgerows, marshes, fens, wet woods and hollows, and by ponds, ditches, streams and rivers. It can tolerate a polluted atmosphere and salt-laden winds.

Flower

Flowers

Foliage

Form from Somerset in June

Creeping Willow

Salix repens

April-May, before the leaves

A variable shrub growing in a range of habitats. The prostrate var. argentea and var. repens are typically found on fixed dunes and especially dune-slacks, in maritime heaths and heathy grassland and on inland heaths and moorland. The erect var. fusca is found in fens. The species becomes more confined to moist or wet habitats in the south and east of its range. 0-855 m (Atholl, E. Perth).

Male Catkin from Dungeness in Kent on 8 May

Female Catkin from Lizard on 26 May

Foliage from Betty Hill on 25 June

Form from Betty Hill in Sutherland on 25 June

Female Catkins from Lizard on 26 May

Female Catkins from Lizard on 26 May

Foliage

Form

Dark Willow

(Dark-leaved Willow)

Salix myrsinifolia

(Salix nigricans)

May-June, usually with the leaves

A shrub, or less often a small tree, which grows mainly on rocks or on gravelly river-banks and lake shores, less frequently in thickets on marshy ground or by wet woodland margins. In Scotland it sometimes grows in wet dune-slacks and as a dwarf, spreading shrub on wet rock ledges. Generally lowland, but reaching 940 m on Stob Binnein (Mid Perth).

Downy Willow

Salix lapponum

May-June, with the leaves

A low shrub of moist or wet, moderately base-enriched sites on rocky mountain slopes and cliffs. This species tolerates a wider range of soil conditions than most montane Salix, but is now largely confined to cliffs. From 210 m (Ochil Hills, W. Perth) to 1000 m (Aonach Beag, Westerness).

Eared Sallow

Salix aurita

April-May, before the leaves

A much-branched shrub which grows on acidic soils on heathland and moorland, in scrub, by watercourses and on rocky streamsides and hills.

Grey Sallow

(Large Gray Willow, Grey Willow)

Salix cinerea

March-April, before the leaves

A shrub or small tree which grows in wet places, including woods, marshes and fens, by streams and bogs, and as a colonist of damp places on waste ground and in disused mineral workings. Generally lowland, with an exceptional record at 845 m on Great Dun Fell (Westmorland).

Least Willow

(Snowbed Willow)

Salix herbacea

June, after the leaves

Mountains (widespread and frequent on bare ground and mountain ledges, from the Brecon Beacons northwards, but nearly at sea-level in North Scotland)

Flower

Flowers from Applecross Pass in Ross on 27 July

Foliage from Cnoc Androichin on 3 August

Form from Cnoc Androichin in Sutherland on 3 August

Netted Willow

(Net-leaved Willow)

Salix reticulata

June, after the leaves

A creeping dwarf shrub which grows on base-rich montane rock ledges of limestone or calcareous schist. From 650 m (Creag Mhor, Mid Perth) to 1125 m (Ben Lawers, Mid Perth), but rarely found at the lower end of this range.

Flower in May

Flowers

Foliage in May

Form in May

Osier

(Basket Willow)

Salix viminalis

March-April, rather before the leaves

An erect shrub or small tree, frequently coppiced and pollarded, which grows in damp places, by streams and ponds, in marshes, fens, osier-beds and landscaped areas. 0-410 m (E. Allendale, S. Northumb.).

Female Flower in April

Female Flower detail

Foliage in June

Fruit in June

Plum-leaved Willow

(Mountain Willow)

Salix arbuscula

May-June, with the leaves

A low shrub of base-rich substrates on mountains, occurring in moist or wet habitats, mostly in flushes, on gravelly soil near burns and on damp ledges of calcareous rock. From 460 m (Ben Lui, Mid Perth) to 870 m (Carn Gorm in Glen Lyon, Mid Perth) but rarely below 600 m.

Purple Willow

(Purpleosier Willow)

Salix purpurea

March-April, before the leaves

A variable shrub or small tree found on wet ground, at wood margins, on damp hillsides, by streams and rivers, on river shingle, in marshes and fens, and sometimes planted as an osier.

Pussy Willow

(Great Sallow, Goat Willow)

Salix caprea

March-April, before the leaves

A shrub or tree which grows in open woodland and wood margins, scrub and hedgerows, and around rocky lake and streamsides. It colonises waste ground and can tolerate drier and more base-rich soils than S. cinerea.

Male Catkin

Female Catkin

Female Fruit from Borough Green on 28 May

Form from Strood in Kent

Tea-leaved Willow

Salix phylicifolia

May-June, usually with the leaves

A much-branched shrub or small tree which grows by ponds, streams and rivers, and in damp rocky places, preferring base-rich soils and sometimes associated with Carboniferous limestone. In Ireland it is a montane species. From near sea-level to 685 m at Catstycam (Westmorland).

White Willow

(Cricket Bat Willow)

Salix alba

April-May

A conspicuous tree which grows in marshes and wet hollows and by ponds, ditches, streams and rivers.

Whortle-leaved Willow

Salix myrsinites

May-June, with the leaves

A low, spreading shrub which grows mainly in moist or wet, base-enriched sites on mountains. It is restricted to ungrazed or lightly grazed areas. From 180 m (Inchnadamph, W. Sutherland) to 915 m (Ben Alder and Aonach Beag, Westerness).

Woolly Willow

Salix lanata

May-June, with the leaves

A low shrub of damp base-rich mountain rock ledges and crags in North-facing corries, often in areas where snow lies late. It is usually on calcareous schist and rarely on limestone. From 620 m to 1035 m (Geal Charn, Westerness).

For educational purposes, so that people following best practice can fully understand why the Aspen Leaves tremble; here are the written facts from The Book of Nature Myths by Florence Holbrooke:-

' "It is very strange," whispered one reed to another, "that the queen bee never guides her swarm to the aspen-tree."

"Indeed, it is strange," said the other. "The oak and the willow often have swarms, but I never saw one on the aspen. What can be the reason?"

"The queen bee cannot bear the aspen," said the first. "Very likely she has some good reason for despising it. I do not think that an insect as wise as she would despise a tree without any reason. Many wicked things happen that no one knows."

The reeds did not think that any one could hear what they said, but both the willow and the aspen heard every word. The aspen was so angry that it trembled from root to tip. "I'll soon see why that proud bee despises me," it said. "she shall guide a swarm to my branches or" ---

"Oh, I would not care for what those reeds say," the willow-tree broke in. "They are the greatest chatterers in the world. They are always whispering together, and they always have something unkind to say."

The aspen-tree was too angry to be still, and called out to the reeds, "You are only lazy whisperers. I do not care what you say. I despise both you and your queen bee. The honey that those bees make is not good to eat. I would not have it anywhere near me."

"Hush, hush," whispered the willow timidly. "The reeds will repeat every word that you say."

"I do not care if they do," said the aspen. "I despise both of them and the bees."

The reeds did whisper the angry words of the aspen to the queen bee, and she said,"I was going to guide my swarm to the aspen, but now I will drive the tree out of the forest. Come, my bees, come."

Then the bees flew by hundreds upon the aspen. They stung every leaf and every twig through and through. The tree was driven from the forest, over the prairie, over the river, over the fields; and still the angry bees flew after it and stung it again and again. When they had come to the rocky places, they left it and flew back to the land of flowers. The aspen never came back. Its bright green leaves had grown white through fear, and from that day to this they have trembled as they did when the bees were stinging them and driving the tree from the forest.'