''Salix atrocinerea'', commonly called grey willow or large gray willow,
is a species of
willow
Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist s ...
. It is a bush or small tree up to tall. As a pioneer species of willow, it quickly colonizes poor soils.
Distribution
The grey willow distribution is mostly Atlantic from Western Europe and North Africa to some Mediterranean islands. Naturally growing in Britain, France, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Tunisia, it is very common in the Iberian Peninsula, and is also found in Corsica.
Ecology
The species hybridizes readily with other species of willow and many hybrids have been identified.
It flowers from January until March or April, depending on location, with the spread of seeds ripening from April to March.
The grey willow lives in freshly disturbed land, with preference for acidic soil, but this is a very hardy species and is even found on beaches near the sea and on islands. It grows in sandy or gravel shores of rivers, streams and ponds, meadows, valleys and hedgerows with some soil moisture, and is found from sea level to 2,000 m altitude, to the subalpine level. A forest of ''S. atrocinerea'' occupies the eastern end of
Cortegada Island
Cortegada is an almost tidal island (it is possible to go walking when the lowest tides happen, but a small amount of water flow does not disappear) in a coastal inlet near Pontevedra in Galicia, Spain. It is part of the Atlantic Islands of Galici ...
in permanently or temporarily waterlogged soils, and a mixed forest with ''
Alnus glutinosa
''Alnus glutinosa'', the common alder, black alder, European alder, European black alder, or just alder, is a species of tree in the family Betulaceae, native to most of Europe, southwest Asia and northern Africa. It thrives in wet locations whe ...
'' occupies the end west side.
References
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Plants described in 1804
atrocinerea
{{Salicaceae-stub