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Yellow willow

Salix lutea

Yellow willow
Photo: Matt Lavin, CC BY-SA 2.0

Yellow willow is a native North American shrub or small tree that grows in moist places such as riverbanks and meadows. It thrives with full sun and consistently wet soil, and it is widely used to stabilise eroding streambanks.

Family
Salicaceae (Willow family)
Grows as
Shrub
Light
Full sun
Water
Keep soil consistently moist or wet, especially in the first growing season.
Soil
Moist, fertile loam or silt; tolerates heavy wet soils.
Temperature
Hardy in cold winters; suited to temperate climates, protect young plants from late frosts.
How easy
Easy
Native range
W. U.S.A.
Climate
temperate

About

Salix lutea is a species of willow known by the common name yellow willow. It is native to North America, including central Canada and parts of the western and central United States, with the exception of the Great Basin. It can be found in moist and wet habitat types, such as riverbanks, meadows, and gullies. It is a shrub up to 7 m tall, sometimes forming colonial thickets or becoming erect and treelike. The lance-shaped leaves may grow over 11 cm long and may have smooth, lightly serrated, wavy, or gland-studded edges. The inflorescence is a catkin of flowers up to 4 or 5 cm long, stout to slender in shape.

This and other willow species are used in revegetation projects in riparian habitat where erosion is a problem.

Other Salix plants

Siberian Violet Willow · White willow · Salix alpina · Arctic willow · Eared willow · Peking Willow · Goat Willow · Pussy willow · Olive Willow · Salix excelsa · Narrowleaf willow · Salix fargesii

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Salix lutea by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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