Species: Salix helvetica Vill.

• it is an  alpine, densely planted shrub growing to a height of 0.60 – 1.50 m with densely growing branches

• the buds are built in a spiral, the covering scale is one, densely white hairy - more with flower buds, less with leaf buds, later glabrous
• flower buds are inverted ovate, obtuse, slightly deflected from the twig
• the leafhoppers are slimmer, ovate-conical, brownish-yellow

• they are short, brownish-yellow, densely white-hairy, later balding, shiny

• they are simple in basic shape inverted ovate to oblong-inverted lanceolate, 2.5 – 6.0 x 1.2 - 2.2 cm in size, widest in the upper half, shortly bluntly pointed at the base wedge-shaped to rounded at the end
• they are entirely marginal on the upper side, at first relatively densely white, hairy, later more or less balding, dark green, shiny
• the vein is slightly depressed from the upper side
• morphologically, the Swiss willow is a fairly distinct species, the variability of which is manifested mainly in the degree of pubescence on the upper side of the leaves – from densely white-haired (main ♂ individuals) to almost glabrous – dark green glossy (main ♀ individuals)
• on the reverse side, the leaves always remain silky hairy, the vein on the reverse is distinctly protruding - the main central vein, which is yellow in color

• the peduncle is 0.5 – 0.8 cm long, hairy

• it is dioecious tree species
• flowers are catkins
• it blooms in VI - VII simultaneously with the development of leaves

• the fruit is a capsule
• the seed is Downy Achene

• the main distribution of Swiss willow is in the Alps, the Carpathians and through the Balkan mountains it progresses to Bulgaria
• in Slovakia, it occurs in the highest altitudes of the High Tatras (above the upper forest line) in the zone of dwarf pine at altitudes from 1,500 to 1,900 m above the sea level.
• it is also rare in the Low Tatras in the Ludárova valley below Ďumbier, often found together with the very similar willow (Salix phylicifolia)

• it grows almost exclusively on acidic substrates
• the most common places of its occurrence are the springs of mountain streams and their banks, the surroundings of alpine lakes and depressions, where moisture from melting snow is retained longer

• Salix helvetica (Swiss willow) is a very decorative tree in its natural habitat, forming compact tufts with an area of up to several square meters
• the exclusive, as if shabby appearance is given by the white-tomented leaves densely grouped at the ends of the branches
• it should also be noted that it is a rare tree found only in a limited area of the subalpine zone of the high mountains
• it can certainly be a decoration of the rock garden in your garden, but get it from an ornamental tree grower, because the Swiss willow is a protected species!
• species protected by law - vulnerable species (VU)