''Salix argyracea'', the smooth willow, is a small shrub from the genus of

willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist ...

(''Salix''). It is found in the mountainous areas of several European countries.

Description

The smooth willow is a shrub that reaches heights of up to 1.5 meters. All parts of the plant are bare. The bare wood shows short, scattered welts. The bark of the thick branches and twigs is bare and red-brown. The alternate leaves are arranged in a petiole and a leaf blade. The simple, bald leaf blade is 4 to 6 centimeters long and 1.5 to 2.5 centimeters wide and elliptical or ovate to elongated with a blunt to pointed end, a rounded to wedge-shaped base and a glandular serrate edge. The upper side of the leaf is dark green and very shiny, the underside is whitish and has a thick wax coating. The leaf veins stand out clearly. The stipules are poorly developed. The smooth willow flowers from May to June just before the leaves shoot. The short inflorescence stem is covered with leaves. The kitten-shaped inflorescences are elliptical with a length of up to 7 centimeters. The bracts of male flowers are monochrome, female flowers are two-colored and bearded at the tip and have a broad nectar gland . Male flowers have two stamens hairy at the base with initially purple-red, later yellow-discolored anthers. The ovary of female flowers is stalked and glabrous. The extended stylus ends in a short and split scar. The number of chromosomes is 2n = 76 or 114.

Habitat and distribution

The natural distribution area is in Europe in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Southern Germany Southern Germany () is a region of Germany which has no exact boundary, but is generally taken to include the areas in which Upper German dialects are spoken, historically the stem duchies of Bavaria and Swabia or, in a modern context, Bavaria ...

, eastern Switzerland,

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, and ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

, and in

Northern Italy Northern Italy ( it, Italia settentrionale, it, Nord Italia, label=none, it, Alta Italia, label=none or just it, Nord, label=none) is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of Italy. It consists of eight administrative Regions ...

. The smooth willow grows in the mountains in cool, moist forests on weakly acidic to alkaline, humus to sandy-loamy, nutrient-rich soils in sunny to light-shaded, cool and winter cold locations and is frost hardy . She likes to grow on dolomite . It is a character species of Salicetum glabrae from the association Salicion waldsteininanae. The distribution area is assigned to winter hardiness zone 4 with mean annual minimum temperatures of −34.4 to −28.9 °C (−30 to −20 °F).

Systematics

The first publication of Salix glabra was made in 1772 by

Giovanni Antonio Scopoli Giovanni Antonio Scopoli (sometimes Latinized as Johannes Antonius Scopolius) (3 June 1723 – 8 May 1788) was an Italian physician and naturalist. His biographer Otto Guglia named him the "first anational European" and the "Linnaeus of the Au ...

. The specific epithet glabra comes from Latin and means "smooth" or "bald". Salix glabra belongs to the Arbuscella section from the subgenus Caprisalix in the genus Salix.

References

Andreas Roloff Andreas Roloff (born 15 May 1955 in Bremen) is a German forest scientist. Dorit Petschel: ''175 Jahre TU Dresden.'' Band 3: ''Die Professoren der TU Dresden 1828–2003.'' Hrsg. im Auftrag der Gesellschaft von Freunden und Förderern der TU Dresd ...

, Andreas Bärtels: ''Flora der Gehölze. Bestimmung, Eigenschaften und Verwendung. Mit einem Winterschlüssel von Bernd Schulz.'' 3., korrigierte Auflage. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 2008, , S. 579. Helmut Genaust: ''Etymologisches Wörterbuch der botanischen Pflanzennamen.'' 3., vollständig überarbeitete und erweiterte Auflage. Nikol, Hamburg 2005, , S. 267 (Nachdruck von 1996).

Erich Oberdorfer Erich Oberdorfer (born 26 March 1905 in Freiburg; died 23 September 2002) was a German biologist specializing in phytosociology and phytogeography. His official botanical author abbreviation is “Oberd." Early life and education Oberdorfer ...

: ''Pflanzensoziologische Exkursionsflora für Deutschland und angrenzende Gebiete''. 8. Auflage. Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2001, . Seite 309.

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1721168 glabra