Shining willow facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Shining willow
Salix lucida lucida
Scientific classification
Genus:	Salix
Species:	lucida
Natural range of Salix lucida subsp. lucida (green) subsp. lasiandra (blue)

Salix lucida, the shining willow, Pacific willow, or whiplash willow, is a species of willow native to northern and western North America, occurring in wetland habitats.

It is a deciduous large shrub or small tree growing to 4–11 m (13–36 ft) tall. The shoots are greenish-brown to grey-brown. The leaves are narrow elliptic to lanceolate, 4–17 cm long and 1-3.5 cm broad, glossy dark green above, usually glaucous green below, hairless or thinly hairy. The flowers are yellow catkins 1–9 cm long, produced in late spring after the leaves emerge.

The subspecies are:

• S. l. lucida - shining willow, Newfoundland west to eastern Saskatchewan, and south to Maryland and South Dakota
• S. l. lasiandra (Benth.) E.Murray (syn. S. lasiandra Benth.) - Pacific willow, Alaska east to Northwest Territory, and south to California and New Mexico.
• S. l. caudata (Nutt.) E.Murray - whiplash willow, interior western North America from eastern British Columbia south to eastern California and Nevada, included in S. l. lasiandra by some authors.

It is closely related to Salix pentandra of Europe and Asia.

Male catkins of S. l. lasiandra

See also

In Spanish: Salix lucida para niños