''Salix barrattiana'' is a species of flowering plant in the willow family known by the common name Barratt's willow. It is native to North America, where it is distributed across

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...

and western

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, with also a few populations in

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...

Williams, Tara Y. 1990
''Salix barrattiana''.
In: Fire Effects Information System, nline U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory. and

Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the s ...

.''Salix barrattiana''.
Flora of North America.''Salix barrattiana''.
The Nature Conservancy.''Salix barrattiana''.
USDA Plants Profile. These disjunct populations are probably relics from a time when the climate was colder. The southernmost population is technically in Wyoming, but it is located at the Montana state line and it is limited to one clone of all-

staminate The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

plants within an area of in a high-

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Ver ...

habitat.Ladyman, J. A. R
''Salix barrattiana'' Hooker (Barratt's willow): A Technical Conservation Assessment.
Prepared for the USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Region. November 28, 2005. This

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 so ...

is a shrub reaching a maximum height near . It may form dense

thicket A thicket is a very dense stand of trees or tall shrubs, often dominated by only one or a few species, to the exclusion of all others. They may be formed by species that shed large numbers of highly viable seeds that are able to germinate in t ...

s. The stems are reddish-brown in color and the smaller branches may be purplish. The twigs are sticky with resin and have a coating of hairs. The leaves are up to long and have hairy to woolly undersides. The leaves have a strong "

balsam Balsam is the resinous exudate (or sap) which forms on certain kinds of trees and shrubs. Balsam (from Latin balsamum "gum of the balsam tree", ultimately from Semitic, Aramaic ''busma'', Arabic ''balsam'' and Hebrew ''basam'', "spice", "perfume ...

ic" scent. The

stipule In botany, a stipule is an outgrowth typically borne on both sides (sometimes on just one side) of the base of a leafstalk (the petiole). Stipules are considered part of the anatomy of the leaf of a typical flowering plant, although in many speci ...

s and buds are very oily and will stain a pressing sheet yellow. The species is dioecious, with male and female reproductive parts on separate individuals. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphology (biology), Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of sperma ...

is a catkin, the male kind up to long and the female up to . The catkins are "fuzzy". This plant grows in fir and spruce forests and along rivers and streams. It can be found in boggy habitats and recent

alluvial Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. All ...

deposits. It is a

tundra In physical geography, tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. The term ''tundra'' comes through Russian (') from the Kildin Sámi word (') meaning "uplands", "treeless mou ...

species. In the southern part of its range, it occurs at elevations up to above sea level. This willow may hybridize with '' S. barclayi'', '' S. commutata'', and '' S. pseudomyrsinites''. This species is threatened by global

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

References

External links

The Nature Conservancy
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5238057 barrattiana