Salix discolor Muhl.

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Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Salix discolor' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/salix/salix-discolor/). Accessed 2024-03-28.

Genus

Glossary

ovary
Lowest part of the carpel containing the ovules; later developing into the fruit.
entire
With an unbroken margin.
glabrous
Lacking hairs smooth. glabrescent Becoming hairless.
glaucous
Grey-blue often from superficial layer of wax (bloom).
oblanceolate
Inversely lanceolate; broadest towards apex.
sessile
Lacking a stem or stalk.
stigma
(in a flower) The part of the carpel that receives pollen and on which it germinates. May be at the tip of a short or long style or may be reduced to a stigmatic surface at the apex of the ovary.
style
Generally an elongated structure arising from the ovary bearing the stigma at its tip.
synonym
(syn.) (botanical) An alternative or former name for a taxon usually considered to be invalid (often given in brackets). Synonyms arise when a taxon has been described more than once (the prior name usually being the one accepted as correct) or if an article of the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature has been contravened requiring the publishing of a new name. Developments in taxonomic thought may be reflected in an increasing list of synonyms as generic or specific concepts change over time.

References

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Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Salix discolor' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/salix/salix-discolor/). Accessed 2024-03-28.

A shrub or low tree not more than 25 ft high; young shoots purplish brown, at first downy. Leaves oblong, oval, or obovate, tapered at both ends, toothed except towards the base, 2 to 5 in. long, 58 to 114 in. wide, at first somewhat downy, soon becoming glabrous, bright green above, and blue-white beneath; stalk 14 to 1 in. long. Catkins opening in March and April on the leafless shoots; males up to 112 in. long, cylindrical; stamens two, with glabrous stalks; female catkins up to 3 in. long in fruit. Ovary beaked, downy, with a distinct style.

Native of the eastern United States and Canada; introduced in 1811. It is rather striking in its deep brown branchlets and very glaucous under-surface of the leaves. This character serves to separate it from S. caprea and S. cinerea, and there is the further difference that in those species the stigma is almost sessile.

It is, however, allied to the Old World sallows. So too are:

S. humilis Marsh. – A shrub to 10 ft high with downy or glabrous branchlets. Leaves up to 4 in. long, narrowly to broadly oblanceolate, dull green above, underside clad with persistent short, curled hairs or becoming almost glabrous, margins entire or slightly wavy-toothed. Stipules narrow or wanting. Catkins sessile, before the leaves, 12 to 1 in. long; scales blackish, hairy. Anthers reddish or purplish. Ovary with a long beak, downy, stalked; stigmas almost sessile. A variable species, widely distributed in eastern and central N. America. Introduced to Kew from the Arnold Arboretum in 1889 and again in 1908 (a different form).

S. tristis Ait. S. humilis var. microphylla (Anderss.) Fern. – Very near to S. humilis and from the same region, but dwarfer (to 3 or 4 ft) and smaller in all its parts. Leaves narrowly oblanceolate, up to 2 in. long and 12 in. wide. Introduced 1765.

From the Supplement (Vol. V)

[S. tristis Ait.] – Dr George Argus has pointed out that the correct name for this species is S. occidentalis Walt., wrongly considered by Schneider and other authorities to be a synonym of S. humilis (Brittonia, Vol. 36, pp. 328–9 (1984)).