Participant Info

Species

Salix planifolia [Salix monica] [Salix phylicifolia var. monica]

Family

Salicaceae

CommonName

planeleaf willow, tea-leaf willow, diamondleaf willow

Presence

YES

Status

native

EarliestDate

1945

LatestDate

2020

Ecosystem

montane, subalpine, tundra

Geobotanical

SSawatch, SSanjuans, Culebras, NCristos

Counties

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

Passes

Cumbres, Elwood, Grayback, Music, Spring Creek, Stony, Wolf Creek

WildlifePreserves

Great Sand Dunes

Other Localities

PhotoRecords

YES Rich Haswell: Rio Grande Co, by beaver pond west of Crystal Lakes 23 June 2020

Comments

Planeleaf willow gravitates toward creek and pond sides in the montane and switches to wet meadows in the alpine, often growing there in thickets with other willows such as S. brachycarpa. Salix planifolia has been recorded from all mountain regions of the Watershed. It is found, spottily, in all USA states west of the Great Plains and in northern Minnesota. It follows the Rio Grande drainage south only into Santa Fe Co, New Mexico. Kittel notes that S. planifolia plants tend to be taller at lower altitudes and shrubbier at higher altitudes (p. 183).

Annotation