''Salix daphnoides'', the European violet willow, is a species of plant in the family
Salicaceae
The Salicaceae is the willow family of flowering plants. The traditional family (Salicaceae ''sensu stricto'') included the willows, poplar, aspen, and cottonwoods. Genetic studies summarized by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG) have greatly ...
. It can grow as a large shrub or small tree, normally reaching a height of
, but can grow up to tall.
Description
It has a rounded crown with spreading branches with smooth, grey bark. The twigs are dark red/brown in colour, hairless and somewhat shiny. It has large buds, either hairless or with stiff, erect hairs. The leaves are oblong to narrow/
obovate
The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regular ...
, normally between 7 and 12 cm long and 2 to 3 cm in width. They are hairy at first, but soon become glabrous, being a dark shiny green on their upper surfaces, and glaucous on their undersides. The
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''). They contain many, usually unisexual flowers, arra ...
s appear in February–March.
Distribution and habitat
Salix daphnoides occurs scattered across central Europe between the Baltic states and Piedmont, and from the Balkans to eastern France.
It is native in the Alps, Pyrenees and the Carpathians, but has been naturalised by cultivation across a much wider area. It occurs at altitudes of .
[
It grows along the banks of rivers and wetlands in alpine areas, preferring sand, pebbly or bolder-rich ]alluvial
Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Al ...
substrates. It also descends into lowland areas, occurring along main rivers such as the Visla
The Vistula (; pl, Wisła, ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest river in Europe, at in length. The drainage basin, reaching into three other nations, covers , of which is in Poland.
The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in t ...
and the Rhine
The Rhine ; french: Rhin ; nl, Rijn ; wa, Rén ; li, Rien; rm, label=Sursilvan, Rein, rm, label=Sutsilvan and Surmiran, Ragn, rm, label=Rumantsch Grischun, Vallader and Puter, Rain; it, Reno ; gsw, Rhi(n), including in Alsatian dialect, Al ...
(often with