Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses

SANDBAR WILLOW

File Size: 59 KB

Salix exigua Nutt.

Reno County, Kansas

Shrub or small tree

Height: 4-13 feet

Family: Salicaceae - Willow Family

Flowering Period: May, June

Also Called:

Narrow-leaf willow, coyote willow.

Stems:

Erect; bark of young trees thin, smooth, yellowish-brown; bark of older trees thick, dark brown, with shallow furrows; branches erect, yellow to orange, smooth.

Leaves:

Alternate, simple, linear-lanceolate, 2 to 5 inches long, 1/5 to 2/5 inch wide, yellowish-green above, slightly paler below; initially silky pubescent, later glabrous or persistently gray-pubescent; margins irregularly toothed; tip tapering to point; base tapered; stalks short, to 1/5 inch long, glandless; stipules absent.

Inflorescences:

Long cluster of many small flowers (catkin), spike-like, 1 to 3 inches long, erect or drooping, borne on branches, emerging after leaves; male and female catkins occur on separate trees.

Flowers:

Unisexual, yellowish-green, subtended by 1 or 2 enlarged basal glands,; bracts entire, yellowish, deciduous after flowering; petals absent; staminate flowers hairy at base; stamens 2; anthers yellow; pistillate flowers with green conical ovary; stigma lobes 4, yellowish.

Fruits:

Capsule, conical, 1/6 to 1/3 inch long, pale brown, glabrous; seeds tiny, dark green, base with ring of long, white, silky hairs.

Habitat:

Stream banks, shorelines, sandbars, ditches; moist alluvial soils.

Distribution:

Throughout Kansas.

Uses:

Native Americans used the branches to make baskets and mats and for the construction of sweat lodges. Stripes of bark were twisted into cord and were also used to bind sweat lodge poles together. Native Americans would chew the twigs of Salix to relieve pain. The twigs contain salicylic acid, which is similar to synthesized acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin). Red-winged blackbirds and other birds make nests in the trees.

Comments:

Sandbar willow often forms dense thickets. The glands subtending the flowers secrete nectar which attracts insects for pollination. Sandbar willow is sometimes used for erosion control.

Sandbar willow fruits