Peachleaf willow

Leaves

Form

• Lance-shaped, thin
• Tip long-pointed, base rounded and uneven
• Midvein prominent
• Young leaves sparsely hairy, becoming hairless
• Stipules absent except on vigorous shoots

Length

• 5–14 cm

Colour

• Upper surface green
• Lower surface whitish
• Young leaves reddish

Margin

• Finely toothed

Buds

Form

• Ovoid, sharp-pointed
• Pressed against the twig, closely spaced
• Covered with a single scale
• No true terminal bud; end bud originates as a lateral bud
• Flower buds larger than leaf buds
• Leaf scars V-shaped, with 3 vein scars
• Stipule scars on either side

Length

• Leaf buds 2–4 mm

Colour

• Shiny yellowish-brown

Twigs

Form

• Smooth, slender
• Flexible, tough

Colour

• Yellowish-brown becoming grey
• Lenticels pale

Flowers

Form

• Catkins loose, on leafy shoots
• Pollen catkins’ flowers in whorls
• Seed catkins long, loosely flowered

Length

• Pollen catkins 3–6 cm
• Seed catkins 4–9 cm

Structure

• Dioecious

Floral timing

• With the leaves

Fruits

Length

• Capsules 4–7 mm
• Stalks 1–2 mm

Colour

• Reddish or yellowish

Timing

• Bracts shed before capsules ripen

Bark

Form

• Irregularly furrowed with broad, flat, shaggy ridges

Colour

• Reddish-brown, with age becoming greyish-brown

Size

Height

• To 20 m
• The tallest native willow in the Prairie provinces
• Often with several leaning trunks in a clump

Diameter

• Single trunks sometimes 40 cm

Tree form

Open-grown

Crown

• Branches often curving upward, then arching over near the tip

Habitat

Site

• Moist soil along rivers and lakes and in wooded swamps

Range

British Columbia to Quebec, and southward to the United States and Mexico