Meadow Willow

Appearance

Plants 1-6 m. Stems: branches red-brown or violet, not or weakly glaucous, (dull or slightly glossy), puberulent; branchlets yellow-green to red-brown, sparsely pubescent or moderately densely velvety, (buds alba-type or intermediate). Leaves: stipules rudimentary or absent; petiole shallowly grooved adaxially, 3-11 mm, pubescent, or velvety to glabrescent adaxially; largest medial blade lorate or very narrowly elliptic, 38-110 × 6-19 mm, 5-9 times as long as wide, base cuneate or convex, margins flat to slightly revolute, entire, serrate, serrulate, or spinulose-serrate, apex acute to acuminate, abaxial surface glaucous, densely long-silky to glabrescent, hairs (white, sometimes also ferruginous), adaxial dull or slightly glossy, glabrous or sparsely pubescent, (hairs white, sometimes also ferruginous); proximal blade margins sometimes serrulate; juvenile blade moderately densely long-silky abaxially, hairs white, sometimes also ferruginous. Catkins flowering as leaves emerge; staminate stout to globose, 12-29 × 6-17 mm, flowering branchlet 0.8-3 mm; pistillate loosely flowered, stout to globose, 12-39 × 6-18 mm, flowering branchlet 1-11 mm; floral bract brown, tawny, light rose, or bicolor, 1-2 mm, apex rounded, abaxially sparsely hairy, hairs straight. Staminate flowers: adaxial nectary square, ovate, or oblong, 0.3-0.7 mm; filaments distinct, hairy basally; anthers purple turning yellow, ellipsoid or globose, 0.4-0.6 mm. Pistillate flowers: adaxial nectary oblong to ovate, 0.3-0.9 mm; stipe 1.5-4 mm; ovary pyriform, beak abruptly tapering to styles; ovules 6-12 per ovary; styles 0-0.5 mm; stigmas slenderly to broadly cylindrical, 0.26-0.4-0.8 mm. Capsules 5-9 mm. 2n = 38.

Naming

Salix petiolaris Smith, Trans. Linn. Soc. 6: 122. 1802.
Salix gracilis Andersson
Salix gracilis var. textoris Fernald
Salix petiolaris var. gracilis (Andersson) Andersson
Salix × subsericea (Andersson) C. K. Schneider

Distribution

Alta., B.C., Man., N.B., N.W.T., N.S., Ont., P.E.I., Que., Sask.; Colo., Conn., Ill., Ind., Iowa, Maine, Mass., Mich., Minn., Nebr., N.H., N.J., N.Y., N.Dak., Ohio, Pa., S.Dak., Vt., Wis

Status

It is listed as a species of special concern in Connecticut by state authorities. It is also listed as threatened in Ohio, and endangered in Pennsylvania.

Habitat

Marshy and swampy ground, shores, streambanks, ditches, and bogs and fen margins, usually in ± open places. Tolerant of mesic conditions if competing vegetation is sparse.

Reproduction

Flowers: Unisexual, male and female catkins (aments) on different shrubs (plants dioecious); catkins are borne on short leafy branches and appear with the leaves. Staminate catkins 1–2 cm long; pistillate catkins 1-2.5 cm long. Bracts oblanceolate, 1–2 mm long, brown, hairy.

Fruit: A cluster of narrow-conical capsules, each 5–7 mm long, densely covered in fine silky hairs, especially towards the base.

Flowering occurs from mid-April to June.

Predators

Salix petiolaris (Meadow Willow) [Salicaceae]
(Observations are from Dmitriev & Dietrich, Clark et al., and Wilhelm & Rericha)

Coleoptera (Beetles)
Buprestidae: Agrilus politus (Willow Gall Limb Borer) WR2017; Chrysomelidae: Calligrapha multipunctata Clk2004, Chrysomela laurentia Clk2004, Chrysomela scripta Clk2004, Crepidodera browni [adults feed on leaves, larvae feed on roots] WR2017, Crepidodera decora Clk2004, Crepidodera digna Clk2004, Crepidodera heikertingeri Clk2004, Crepidodera nana Clk2004, Crepidodera sculpturata Clk2004, Crepidodera solita Clk2004, Tricholochmaea decora Clk2004, Zeugophora consanguinea Clk2004; Curculionidae: Ellescus ephippiatus [larvae mine central rachis of inflorescences] WR2017

Homoptera (Sucking Insects)
Aphididae: Aphis farinosa [found on young shoots & leaves] WR2017, Chaitophorus viminalis [found on young shoots & leaves] WR2017; Cicadellidae: Erythroneura rosa DD2010

Hymenoptera (Bees, Wasps, Ants, & Sawflies)
Formicidae: Formica obscuriventris [this ant feeds on the honeydew of such aphids as Aphis farinosa and Chaitophorus viminalis while the latter are feeding on this willow] WR2017, Tapinoma sp. [this ant feeds on the honeydew of such aphids as Aphis farinosa and Chaitophorus viminalis while the latter are feeding on this willow] WR2017, Temnothorax ambiguus [this ant feeds on the honeydew of such aphids as Aphis farinosa and Chaitophorus viminalis while the latter are feeding on this willow]