''Salix cinerea'' (common sallow, grey sallow, grey willow, grey-leaved sallow, large grey willow, pussy willow, rusty sallow) is a species of

willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, of the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 350 species (plus numerous hybrids) of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions. Most species are known ...

native to Europe and western Asia.Meikle, R. D. (1984). ''Willows and Poplars of Great Britain and Ireland''. BSBI Handbook No. 4. .Christensen, K. I., & Nielsen, H. (1992). Rust-pil (''Salix cinerea'' subsp. ''oleifolia'') - en overset pil i Danmark og Skandinavien. ''Dansk Dendrologisk Årsskrift'' 10: 5-17. The plant provides a great deal of

nectar Nectar is a viscous, sugar-rich liquid produced by Plant, plants in glands called nectaries, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollination, pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to an ...

for

pollinators A pollinator is an animal that moves pollen from the male anther of a flower to the female stigma of a flower. This helps to bring about fertilization of the ovules in the flower by the male gametes from the pollen grains. Insects are the ma ...

. It was rated in the top 10, with a ranking of second place, for most nectar production (nectar per unit cover per year) in a UK plants survey conducted by the AgriLand project which is supported by the UK Insect Pollinators Initiative.

Plant

It is a

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

shrub A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...

or small

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...

growing 4–10 metres (13–30 ft) tall. The

leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

are spirally arranged, 2–9 cm (1– in) long and 1–3 cm (– in) broad (exceptionally up to 16 cm long and 5 cm broad), green above, hairy below, with a crenate margin. The

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

s are produced in early spring in

catkin A catkin or ament is a slim, cylindrical flower cluster (a spike), with inconspicuous or no petals, usually wind- pollinated ( anemophilous) but sometimes insect-pollinated (as in '' Salix''). It contains many, usually unisexual flowers, arra ...

s 2–5 cm long; it is

dioecious Dioecy ( ; ; adj. dioecious, ) is a characteristic of certain species that have distinct unisexual individuals, each producing either male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproduction is ...

with male and female catkins on separate plants. The male catkins are silvery at first, turning yellow when the pollen is released; the female catkins are greenish grey, maturing in early summer to release the numerous tiny

seed In botany, a seed is a plant structure containing an embryo and stored nutrients in a protective coat called a ''testa''. More generally, the term "seed" means anything that can be Sowing, sown, which may include seed and husk or tuber. Seeds ...

s embedded in white cottony down which assists wind dispersal.

Taxonomy

The closely related species ''

Salix atrocinerea ''Salix atrocinerea'', commonly called grey willow or large gray willow, is a species of willow. 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 ...

'' Brot., which overlaps in distribution in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, is considered by some authors as the

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

''S. cinerea oleifolia'' (Gaudin) Macreight. '' S. atrocinerea'' differs from ''S. cinerea'' in that it is taller (reaching up to 15 metres), has a deeply furrowed bark, dark red-brown hairs beneath the leaves, smaller stipules, and is earlier deciduous. Despite the coexistence of these two nomenclatures, the main taxonomic databases regard ''S. cinerea oleifolia'' as synonym of ''S. atrocinerea''.

Ecology

Betula pubescens and Salix cinerea seeds

Grey willow grows in

wetlands A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

, moist depressions, ditches, embankments, banks of stagnant or slow-moving water bodies, and forest edges, where it encounters low-lying damp situations with waterlogged and nutrient-poor soils. ''S. cinerea'' is a pioneer species that rapidly colonizes disturbed sites. A common herbivore of ''Salix cinerea'' is '' Phratora vulgatissima'', which prefers and is more common on female plants. '' Anthocoris nemorum'', a natural enemy of ''Phratora vulgatissima'', is also more common on ''S. cinerea''.

Invasive species

''Salix cinerea'' is an

invasive species An invasive species is an introduced species that harms its new environment. Invasive species adversely affect habitats and bioregions, causing ecological, environmental, and/or economic damage. The term can also be used for native spec ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

and is listed on the National Pest Plant Accord, which means it cannot be sold or distributed. ''S. cinerea'' is also highly invasive in south-eastern Australia,Cremer, K. W. (2003) Introduced willows can become invasive pests in Australia. Biodiversity, 4, 17-24. with the entire genus listed as a Weed of National Significance. The species was introduced to stop erosion along riverbanks, but has since caused worse erosion over time by widening and shallowing invaded streams.

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control cinerea Flora of Ukraine Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Flora of the Channel Islands