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Alpine willow

Salix petrophila

Also called Rocky Mountain Willow

Alpine willow
Photo: Patrick Alexander from Las Cruces, NM, CC0

Salix petrophila is a low, mat-forming shrub from high mountains of western North America, growing in cold, moist subalpine and alpine wetlands and meadows. It is a plant for cold, wet, open ground rather than typical garden conditions.

Family
Salicaceae (Willow family)
Grows as
Shrub
Light
Full sun
Water
Keep the soil consistently moist; it naturally grows on wet banks and wet meadows.
Soil
Moist, gritty or rocky soil with good drainage that stays damp, such as a bog or wet alpine mix.
Temperature
Hardy to cold alpine conditions; suited to cool summers and winters well below freezing.
How easy
Moderate
Native range
W. Canada to W. & WC. U.S.A.
Climate
subalpine or subarctic

About

Salix petrophila, commonly known as alpine willow and Rocky Mountain willow, is a Northwest American mountain shrub in the willow family (Salicaceae).

Where it grows

It can be found in the subalpine zone and alpine zone of the Sierra Nevada range in wetlands such as moist banks and wet meadows, up to 9,900 to 13,000 feet (3,000 to 4,000 m).

Other Salix plants

Salix abscondita · Common Middle East Willow · Siberian Violet Willow · Salix aegyptiaca · Salix aeruginosa · Salix alatavica · Feltleaf willow · White willow · Salix alexii-skvortzovii · Salix alpina · Peachleaf willow · Salix annulifera

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Salix petrophila 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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