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Salix pedicellaris Pursh

Bog Willow

Salicaceae (Willow family)

Synonym: Salix myrtilloides L. var. pedicellaris (Pursh) Andersson.

General Description: A slender, sparingly branched shrub 0.4-1.2 m tall (usually no more than 0.6 m in Idaho), with glabrous, dark twigs. Stipules are apparently absent. Leaves may be silky at first, but are soon glabrous, and commonly very pale and glaucous beneath. The blades are 2-6 cm long, oblanceolate, oblong, or obovate, broadest at or above the middle, entire, and usually obtuse or broadly rounded at the tip. Catkins are borne on short lateral branches with reduced leaves. Pistillate catkins are 1-3 cm long, staminate ones 1-2 cm long. The capsules are glabrous and 4-6.5 mm long, while the persistent scales are yellowish, brown or reddish.

Illustration.

Field Identification Tips: In northern Idaho, S. pedicellaris can be identified by its size and habitat. It seems to rarely attain a height greater than about 60 cm in Idaho, while most of the other peatland willows are much taller when mature, typically 1.5 m or more. The shrubs have a reddish look, with dark-veined leaves and reddish to brown, shiny bark. The rounded, leathery-appearing, glabrous leaves are also quite distinctive.

Phenology: Flowers in the spring.

Similar Species: Salix bebbiana, S. drummondiana, and S. geyeriana are other willow species found in northern Idaho peatland habitats. They generally are at least 1.5 m tall and have some pubescence on the leaves.

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Habitat: Bogs and muskegs.

Global Distribution: A boreal species ranging across Canada from southeastern Yukon to Newfoundland, southward to New Jersey, Iowa, and the Pacific Northwest, where it is chiefly in and west of the Cascade Mountains.

Idaho Distribution: The Priest Lake area in Bonner County and the Kootenai River drainage in Boundary County.

References:

Brayshaw, T. C. 1976. Catkin bearing plants (Amentiferae) of British Columbia. Occasional Papers of the British Columbia Provincial Museum No. 18. Victoria, BC: Department of Provincial Secretary. 176 pp.

Bursik, R. J. 1992. Field investigations of sensitive plant taxa occurring on the Priest Lake Ranger District, Kanisku National Forest, Idaho Panhandle National Forests. Unpublished report prepared for the Panhandle National Forests by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, Conservation Data Center, Boise. 141 pp. plus appendices.