SALICACEAE 

 Almondleaf Willow 



Salix amygdaloides, Anderss. 



HABIT. A tree 30-40 feet high, with a straight, columnar 

 trunk 1-2 feet in diameter; straight, ascending branches form a 

 rather narrow, rounded crown. 



LEAVES. Alternate, simple, 2-6 inches long, ^-1^4 inches 

 broad ; lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, long-pointed ; finely serrate ; 

 thin and firm ; light green and shining above, pale and glaucous 

 beneath ; petioles slender, Y^-Y^, inch long. 



FLOWERS. April, with the leaves; dioecious; borne in 

 crowded, slender, pubescent catkins 2-3 inches long; calyx o; 

 corolla o; scales yellow, villous both sides; stamens 5-9; ovary 

 oblong-conical, with stigmas nearly sessile. 



FRUIT. May; i-celled, globose-conical capsule, J4 mcn 

 long, containing many minute seeds which are furnished with 

 long, silky, white hairs. 



WINTER-BUDS. Terminal bud absent; lateral buds 

 broadly ovoid, gibbous, lustrous, dark brown, ^ inch long. 



BARK. Twigs glabrous, lustrous, dark orange or red- 

 brown, becoming darker orange-brown ; thick and brown on old 

 trunks, irregularly fissured into flat, connected ridges. 



WOOD. Light, soft, weak, close-grained, light brown, with 

 thick, whitish sapwood. 



DISTRIBUTION. Common throughout the state. 

 HABITAT. Banks of streams. 



NOTES. Hybridizes freely with other willows, making its 

 identification difficult. 



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