Salix japonica Thunb.

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Credits

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

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

Genus

Synonyms

  • S. babylonica var. japonica (Thunb.) Anderss.

Glossary

ovary
Lowest part of the carpel containing the ovules; later developing into the fruit.
apex
(pl. apices) Tip. apical At the apex.
clone
Organism arising via vegetative or asexual reproduction.
entire
With an unbroken margin.
glabrous
Lacking hairs smooth. glabrescent Becoming hairless.
glaucous
Grey-blue often from superficial layer of wax (bloom).
lanceolate
Lance-shaped; broadest in middle tapering to point.
nectary
Gland or surface from which nectar is secreted.
obtuse
Blunt.
ovate
Egg-shaped; broadest towards the stem.
petiole
Leaf stalk.
style
Generally an elongated structure arising from the ovary bearing the stigma at its tip.

References

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Credits

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

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

A shrub to about 6 ft high; branches slender, glabrous at maturity. Leaves narrowly to broadly lanceolate, 2 to 3 in. long and up to 1 in. wide, soon glabrous, the margins set with hook-like, finely pointed teeth except at the entire acuminately tapered apex, bright green above, glaucous or grey beneath; petiole up to 14 in. long. Catkins appearing with the leaves; scales ovate, obtuse, sparsely hairy. The female catkins are slender and remarkable for their length, being up to 5 in. long even in the flowering stage, the male to 3 in. long. Stamens two, free. Ovary stalked, glabrous, with a short style. Both male and female flowers have a single nectary.

Native of Japan. A handsome species of uncertain affinity but certainly not related to S. babylonica, of which Andersson, the monographer of the genus, inexplicably considered it to be a ‘minor modification’. It may not be in cultivation, but is worthy of introduction, for its distinctive foliage and long female catkins.

For the willow introduced as S. japonica Lavallei see under S. babylonica. Another willow grown in the last century as S. japonica, a female clone, may have been one of the allies of S. jessoensis (q.v.).