Willow Identification Key: Salix x reichardtii

Common Name:

Scientific Name:

New Zealand Clones:

Male: Pussy Galore, Muscina

Technical Description:

A hybrid between S. caprea and S. cinerea. Often mistakenly called S. dsicolor in N.Z., and has also been confused with S. caprea.

Habit: Shrub or small tree, 6-12 m high, with several upright stems arising from a short trunk.

Shoots: Greenish or grey, hairy when young, not brittle, smooth with a few short striations beneath the bark.

Leaves: 4-10 cm long, 2.5-5.5 cm wide, oval to elliptic, mid-green above, at first covered densely in grey hairs below, becoming hairless except for the midribs, margins undulate, sparsely toothed, not bitter.

Catkins: Male only in N.Z.; catkins abundant, broad-oblong, 2-3.5 cm long, produced before the leaves.

Comments: Often planted as an ornamental for its abundant showy silver catkins, which also make it a good source of pollen for bees. Variable in its characteristics but generally differs from S. cinerea in having larger leaves with more pointed tips. S. caprea, which is rare in N.Z., has grey leaves persistently hairy below and no striations below the bark.