Plant - spring Verde River, Bridgeport Max Licher @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) | Leaves Crescent Moon Ranch, Sedona Max Licher @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) | Leaves Oak Creek, W of Sedona Max Licher @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) | Female flowers Mormon Crossing, Oak Creek, Cornville Max Licher @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) | Female flowers Mormon Crossing, Oak Creek, Cornville Max Licher @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) | Male flowers Hidden Valley, Page Springs Max Licher @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) |
Origin: Native General Description: Deciduous. Largest of the willows with a broad, rounded crown and a massive trunk to 30 inches in diameter. Deep lateral root system is valuable for erosion control. Identification notes: Tree to 100 feet. Slender branches, thick furrowed bark. Leaves alternate, lance-shaped, 7 or 8 times longer than wide, finely toothed, glandular, green to yellowish-green on both sides. Stipules absent or rudimentary. Catkins on lateral leafy branchlets. Height: 45 to 100 feet Width: 40 feet
Habitat Description: Found along streams, in moist canyons and wet meadows up to 7000 feet but usually lower. Plant Communities: Riparian Elevation: 0 - 7000 feet
Color: Yellowish  Shape: Inconspicuous in elongated clusters
 Tubular: N  Flowering Period: Mar - Jun Description: Catkins develop after leaves are fully formed in spring; male and female on separate trees. Catkins to 3-1/2 inches long; each flower subtended by a greenish, whitish, or yellowish-brown bract covered in short wavy hairs that fall off after flowering.
Leaf Color: Green to yellowish-green  Type: Simple  Shape: Narrow  Margin: Toothed  Attachment: Alternate  Hairs: N Description: Alternate along the branchlets, on hairy stalks with small stipules at bases. Narrowly lance-shaped to very narrowly elliptical, long pointed and fine toothed; widest at the bases. Upper and lower leaf surfaces green to yellowish-green and hairless.
Color: Yellowish  Type: Capsule  Description: Smooth or hairy cone-shaped capsules on short stalks split into 2 sections to release many cottony seeds. Matures in late spring.
Bark Color: Brown to gray or grayish-black  Bark Texture (Mature): Rough  Bark and Branch Description: Young branches usually yellowish or yellowish-green, sometimes reddish-brown, slender and easily detached. Older bark is darker, thick, rough and deeply furrowed with narrow ridges. Spines, thorns or prickles: N |