Participant Info

Species

Salix glauca [Salix glaucops] [Salix pseudolapponum] [Salix villosa]

Family

Salicaceae

CommonName

gray willow, grayleaf willow

Presence

YES

Status

native

EarliestDate

1900

LatestDate

2020

Ecosystem

montane, subalpine, tundra

Geobotanical

Garitas, SSanjuans, NCristos

Counties

Alamosa, Conejos, Costilla, Hinsdale, Mineral, Rio Grande, Saguache, Archuleta, San Juan

Passes

Elwood, Grayback, Music, Stony, Wolf Creek

WildlifePreserves

Brown Lakes, Wheeler

Other Localities

PhotoRecords

YES Rich Haswell: Rio Grande Co, Alder Creek 2 miles N of South Fork 21 May 2020

Comments

Grayleaf willow is a higher-elevation willow recorded from all the mountain regions of the Watershed. It often grows in thickets alongside Salix brachycarpa, from which it is difficult to distinguish and with which it sometimes hybridizes. Kittel (2023) notes that compared to S. brachycarpa, S. glauca has longer petioles, longer catkins, and longer less densely hairy leaves. In the USA, S. glauca is primarily a Rockies species, that follows the Rio Grande drainage only through the northern third of New Mexico. The Watershed species is var. villosa.

Annotation