lasiandra – from Greek lasio-, lasi- for “hairy, woolly” + andros, male, in reference to the hairy staminal filaments

• also known as Salix lucida ssp. lasiandra
  • lucida – “light” or “bright” (Latin), referring to shiny, glossy leaves

Native range: Northern and Western North America

Leaves:

• alternate
• shiny
• lance-shaped, tapering to a long tip
• 5–15 cm. long
• margins finely toothed
• older leaves not hairy, with whitish bloom beneath
• stalk 3–15 mm. long, with glands where attached to the leaf
• stipules prominent, kidney-shaped, also glandular

Flowers:

• dioeceious
• bracts pale yellow, hairy, deciduous after flowering
• catkins appear with the leaves, on long leafy shoots
• male to 7 cm. long
• females to 12 cm. long

Fruit:

• smooth capsules 4–8 mm. long
• stalks tiny (to 1 mm.)

Other characteristics:

• deciduous
• tall, slender shrub or tree to 12 m. tall
• becomes increasingly shrubby with elevation
• branches brown, glabrous
• twigs:
  • glossy
  • with yellow duckbill-shaped buds
  • brittle at base
• bark:
  • fissured
  • yellow-brown on older trees

Relevant info:

• Native Americans in the NW used to make fish weirs, in basketry, and as building material
• solution from boiled leaves and/or branches was used to as a disinfectant
• bark contains salicin, which is related to aspirin and has been used for centuries to relieve pain through the combined anti-inflammatory effects of salicin and flavonoids without negatively affecting gastrointestinal tissues

Ecology & Adaptations:

• Alaska south to California, east to Manitoba and New Mexico
• widely distributed throughout Washington
• found in riparian areas from the coast to the mountains
• river banks, floodplains, lakeshores, and wet meadows
• thickets
• silty, sandy to gravelly alluvium along streams
• often standing in quiet, shallow river backwaters
• sea level to middle elevations (0–2700 m.)
• pollinated by wind and insects
• seed dispersal:
  • light-weight seeds are dispersed by wind and water
  • cottony hairs on the seed coat lend substantial air and water buoyancy to the seeds, which may be carried for several miles
• vegetative reproduction:
  • sprouts from the root crown after top-kill (e.g., by fire or beavers)
  • stems, and even whole plants, may be dispersed downstream and re-root, although seed regeneration may be more important than vegetative regeneration on floodplains
• fire adapted:
  • see veg regeneration above
  • may also establish from seed if fire has cleared a mineral seed bed on a moist site
• herbivore defense:
  • of phenolic glycosides (PG; especially salicin derivatives/salicinoids) in leaves and bark
  • PG concentration increases in bark of young tissue in winter, which deters herbivory by being unpalatable to mammals, except beavers
  • PGs deter and lower fitness (pupal weight, # eggs produced) of generalist insect herbivores by interfering with digestive processes, but not of specialist insect herbivores, which use PGs for their own defense by storing the compounds in glands and secreting them upon attack by their natural enemies
• adapted to herbivory/disturbance – usually recovers from cuts by beavers by re-sprouting and/or re-rooting unless heavy browsing is prolonged over several growing seasons
• wildlife:
  • browsed by white-footed voles, snowshoe hares, American beavers, mule deer, elk, and moose; American beavers use for dam material
  • dusky-footed woodrats in western Oregon use as nesting trees and apparently select nest trees based on availability rather than preference for particular tree species
  • in Colorado, yellow-rumped warblers use shining willow for nesting
  • in California, the federally Endangered least Bell’s vireo nests in branches
• use in restoration:
  • easy to establish from stem cuttings
  • when densely planted, may help control infestations of invasive Phalaris arundinaceae by rapidly creating a canopy and shading out RCG