Scouler's willow is a deciduous willow native to western North America, growing as a multi-stemmed shrub or small tree that is often found along moist ground. It is dioecious, so male and female catkins grow on separate trees, and it needs moisture and a sunny to lightly shaded spot.
Family
Salicaceae (Willow family)
Grows as
Tree, Shrub
Light
Full sun, Part shade
Water
Keep soil consistently moist, especially in its first years.
Soil
Moist, well-drained loam or stream-side soil.
Temperature
Hardy in cold climates; tolerates subarctic winters, growing well in temperate zones.
How easy
Easy
Native range
Subarctic America to N. Mexico
Climate
temperate
About
Salix scouleriana (Scouler's willow; syn. S. brachystachys Benth., S. capreoides Anderss., S. flavescens Nutt., S. nuttallii Sarg., S. stagnalis Nutt.) is a species of willow native to northwestern North America. Other names occasionally used include fire willow, Nuttall willow, mountain willow, and black willow.
Where it grows
The species is native to western North America, from south central Alaska east to western Northwest Territory, central Manitoba, and the Black Hills of South Dakota, and south through the Rocky Mountains to Coahuila, and along the coast through British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and the Sierra Nevada in California. It grows from sea level to an altitude of 2,100 m (6,900 ft) in the Rockies.
Uses
The wood, which is soft and close-grained, is not sawn into lumber, but is used to a limited extent for firewood and wood carving. The Secwepemc people of British Columbia used the wood for smoking fish, drying meat, and constructing fishing weirs, the inner bark for lashing, sowing, cordage, and headbands, and decoctions of twigs for treating pimples, body odor, and diaper rash. Some tribes used the stems as frames for buildings.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Salix scouleriana 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.