Olive Willow
Scientific name: Salix elaeagnos Scop.
Diagnostic features
Erect shrub to 6m.
Twigs densely pubescent in first year, glabrous later, yellowish- or reddish-brown.
Leaves 5-15 x 0.3-0.8cm, tomentose on lowerside, dull and pubescent on upperside, with ± entire strongly revolute margins.
Stamen filaments fused at base up to 1/2 way.
Chromosome number: (2n=38).
Habitat
Introduced-survivor; grown in gardens and becoming ± naturalized where neglected or thrown out.
Distribution
Scattered in England North to Midwest Yorks; South Europe.
This species is keyed out on Page 1640 in the Text Key.
Note
Vegetatively close to Salix viminalis, but differs in pubescence of leaf lowerside, and in catkin characters: bracts yellowish (not reddish-brown and darker at apex); filaments fused at base, often ± to 1/2 way (not free); and ovary glabrous (not densely pubescent). |
