Home → Communities, Plants, and Animals → Rare Plants → Salix humilus var. tristis
Salix humilis var. tristis (Ait.) Griggs
Dwarf Prairie Willow
- State Rank: SU
- Global Rank: G5T5T4
- State Status: Special Concern
Habitat: Dry barrens, plains, and slopes.
Range: Southern Maine to Virginia, at higher elevations south to Alabama.
Aids to Identification: Willows are recognized by their winter buds and flowers. Their buds are covered by a single, cap-like scale, and their flowers are very small and are borne in catkins. Identification of the willows is complicated by the fact that these plants are dioecious - the staminate and carpellate flowers are borne on separate plants. This willow has leaf blades are lanceolate to narrow-elliptic 2-5 by 0.7-1.2 cm. that lack stipules. The petioles are 0.5 to 3 mm long.
Phenology: Flowers March - April in most of range.
Family: Salicaceae
Synonyms: None noted.
Known Distribution in Maine: This rare plant has not been documented in Maine.
Reason(s) for rarity: Disjunct from principal range.
