''Salix atrocinerea'', commonly called grey willow or large gray willow, 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 ...

. It is a bush or small tree up to tall. As a

pioneer species Pioneer species are resilient species that are the first to colonize barren environments, or to repopulate disrupted biodiverse steady-state ecosystems as part of ecological succession. Various kinds of events can create good conditions for pi ...

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, Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Algeria and 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 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 (biology), family Betulaceae, native plant, native to most of Europe, southwest Asia and northern Africa. ...

'' occupies the end west side.

References

External links

* * * Plants described in 1804 atrocinerea {{Salicaceae-stub