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Species: Salix alba L.

(Salix alba L.)
-> Genus: Salix -> Family: Salicaceae -> Group: Angiosperms

Habitus

  • height is 20 – 30 m
  • crown is  irregular, densely lined
  • the bark is smooth greenish-gray
  • the bork is deeply reticulated, light grey to dark grey
Salix alba (White willow)
Salix alba (White willow)
Salix alba (White willow) - Hlohovec pond, South Moravia, Czechia
Salix alba (White willow) - borka

Buds

  • they are arranged in a spiral, 7 - 10 x 2 - 4 mm large
  • they are oblong-conical, sessile, pressed to the branch
  • covering scale is one, yellow-brown to reddish-brown
Salix alba (White willow)
Salix alba (White willow) - arrangement of buds by spiral

Shoots

  • they are thin, flexible, reddish-brown, yellow-brown to yellow
  • they are silky hairy when young
Salix alba (White willow) - annual shoot (annual growth)
Salix alba (White willow) - annual shoot

Leaves (assimilation organs)

  • leaves are simple (pinnate), 4 - 10 x 1 - 2 cm large, narrowly lanceolate, long pointed, widest in the middle !
  • finely sawtooth edge
  • upper side is dark green, glossy, white felt when young
  • underside is silvery, silky felt
  • stalk is approx. 0.5 cm long
  • median vein is protruding
Salix alba (White willow) - top side
Salix alba (White willow) - underside
Salix alba (White willow) - twig with leaves
Salix alba (White willow) - twig with leaves

Flowers

  • it is dioecious tree species
  • it  blooms in III – IV, simultaneously with the development of leaves
  • ♂ -  catkins - cylindrical, erect, 4 - 10 x 1 cm large
  • ♀ -  catkins 4 - 5 x 7 cm large
Salix alba (White willow) - male (♂) catkins
Salix alba (White willow) - male (♂) catkins

Fruits – seeds

  • the fruit is a 4-5 mm long ovoid capsule
  • the capsules are grouped into 6-7 cm long fringed broods
  • it ripens in May
  • bursts with two valves
  • the seed is a fluffy achene, 0.5 - 1.0 mm in size, linear, greenish with a plume of white fluff
Salix alba (White willow) - capsules grouped into star-shaped broods

Extension

  • almost over all of Europe – Eurasian species
  • in Slovakia in the lowlands in floodplain forests
  • along watercourses (Danube, Váh, Hron, ...) it rises from the lowest positions up to 700 m above the sea level.
  • it is part of the so-called soft liquor together with other woody plants:
    • White poplar (Populus alba)
    • Black poplar (Populus nigra), ...

Ecology

  • it is light-loving wood, relatively resistant to frost
  • more demanding on the higher level of flowing to stagnant groundwater and on the content of nutrients in the soil
  • it also tolerates seasonal flooding during the growing season (about 60 days)
Salix alba (White willow) - - riparian vegetation with white willow near the Váh River
Salix alba (White willow) - as the part of floodplain forests by the Danube
Salix alba (White willow) - as the part of floodplain forests along the Danube together with white poplar (Populus alba)

Significance

  • it is fast-growing woody plant, excels in high stump growth (formation of head willows)
  • it is often used in greening work, park tree
  • soil protection, soil consolidation
  • ameliorative woody plant - enriches the soil by falling
  • the wood is soft with a brown core suitable for the production of cellulose
  • basket weaving rods are obtained from the head of willows
Salix alba (White willow) - head willows
Salix alba (White willow) - as the part of the riparian vegetation of the Váh River

From history

Salix alba (White willow) - Unsere Waldbäume, Sträucher und Zwergholzgewächse. Heidelberg, Carl Winter`s Universitätsbuchhandlung
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