Salix Alaxensis
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''Salix alaxensis'' is a species of flowering plant in the willow family known by the common names Alaska willow and feltleaf willow. It is native to northern North America, where it occurs throughout
Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...
and northwestern
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
.Uchytil, Ronald J. 1991
''Salix alaxensis''.
In: Fire Effects Information System, nline U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory.


Description

This plant is a
shrub A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...
or
tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...
up to tall. The stem diameter is up to . In harsher climates, it remains much smaller. The smooth, gray bark becomes furrowed and scaly with age. The leaves are up to 11 cm long and have woolly undersides.''Salix alaxensis''.
Flora of North America.


Reproduction

The species is
dioecious Dioecy ( ; ; adj. dioecious, ) is a characteristic of certain species that have distinct unisexual individuals, each producing either male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproduction is ...
, with male and female reproductive parts on separate individuals. The
inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...
is a
catkin A catkin or ament is a slim, cylindrical flower cluster (a spike), with inconspicuous or no petals, usually wind- pollinated ( anemophilous) but sometimes insect-pollinated (as in '' Salix''). It contains many, usually unisexual flowers, arra ...
up to 10 cm long. The fruit is a capsule. The seed has a downy layer of fibers that helps it disperse via wind and moving water. The seed remains viable for about a week, but it germinates within 24 hours of deposition upon a moist soil substrate. It does not germinate easily on dry soils or forest litter. The plant primarily reproduces sexually, via seed, but it can also reproduce vegetatively. It can resprout easily, and if stem fragments break off, they can often take root and grow into new plants.


Ecology

Moose The moose (: 'moose'; used in North America) or elk (: 'elk' or 'elks'; used in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is the world's tallest, largest and heaviest extant species of deer and the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is also the tal ...
are especially fond of this plant, pulling down and breaking branches up to 4 cm in diameter iereck, LA & EL Little (1972) Alaska Trees and Shrubs. USDA Forest Service Agricultural Handbook No. 410, Washington DC. p. 112/ref> and eating up to 90% of the twigs on the plant. In some areas of northern Alaska, this plant provides 95% of the winter food for moose.
Snowshoe hare The snowshoe hare (''Lepus americanus''), also called the varying hare or snowshoe rabbit, is a species of hare found in North America. It has the name "snowshoe" because of the large size of its hind feet. The animal's feet prevent it from sink ...
s also prefer it. In northern Alaska, this may be the only source of fuel wood. It is one of the tallest willows in the
Canadian Arctic Archipelago The Arctic Archipelago, also known as the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, is an archipelago lying to the north of the Canadian continental mainland, excluding Greenland (an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, which is, by itself, much larger ...
.''Salix alaxensis''.
Aiken, S.G., et al. 200

Flora of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago: Descriptions, Illustrations, Identification, and Information Retrieval. NRC Research Press, National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa.


Distribution

This
willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, of the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 350 species (plus numerous hybrids) of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions. Most species are known ...
is commonly dominant in willow communities across its range. Other willows in the habitat may include Bebb willow (''S. bebbiana''), grayleaf willow (''S. glauca''), Sitka willow (''S. sitchensis''), Pacific willow (''S. lasiandra''), barren-ground willow (''S. brachycarpa''), and halberd willow (''S. hastata''). It grows along rivers and streams and lakes. It grows in forested habitat, but it does not tolerate shade, so it persists only in open areas. Because it germinates quickly, it easily colonizes disturbed habitat, such as riverbanks scoured by recent floods and areas where
glacier A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...
s have receded. It grows in early stages of succession, and after a few decades, it is shaded out by poplars and other trees as the habitat turns into forest. This plant is fire-adapted and can resprout after its aboveground parts are burned away. The wind-dispersed seeds then land on the burned soil and colonize the terrain.


Uses and cultivation

Native Americans used parts of willows, including this species, for medicinal purposes, basket weaving, to make bows and arrows, and for building animal traps. This plant is used for habitat restoration and revegetation of disturbed sites, such as pipelines.
Cultivar A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...
s have been developed, such as 'Rhode', which has been used for revegetation efforts. Cuttings and bundles of dormant branches can be directly planted in the ground and will take root.


References


External links

*
The Nature Conservancy
* {{Taxonbar, from=Q7404878 alaxensis Flora of Subarctic America