''Salix sericea'', commonly known as silky willow, is a shrub in the
Salicaceae
The Salicaceae are the willow family of flowering plants. The traditional family (Salicaceae ''sensu stricto'') includes the willows, poplars. Genetic studies summarized by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG) have greatly expanded the circumsc ...
family that grows in swamps and along rivers in eastern United States and Canada. It is tall and has long, thin, purplish twigs.
The leaves are 6–10 cm long, 7–8 mm wide,
lanceolate
The following terms are used to describe leaf plant morphology, morphology in the description and taxonomy (biology), taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (that is, the leaf blade or 'lamina' is undivided) or compound (that is, the leaf blade ...
,
acuminate
The following terms are used to describe leaf plant morphology, morphology in the description and taxonomy (biology), taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (that is, the leaf blade or 'lamina' is undivided) or compound (that is, the leaf blade ...
,
serrulate, dark green and lightly hairy on top, and light green and densely covered with white silky hairs underneath. Mature leaves are
glabrous
Glabrousness () is the technical term for a lack of hair, down, setae, trichomes, or other such covering. A glabrous surface may be a natural characteristic of all or part of a plant or animal, or be due to loss because of a physical condition, ...
. The
petioles are 1 cm long.
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 ...
s are
sessile and usually
bracteate
A bracteate (from the Latin ''bractea'', a thin piece of metal) is a flat, thin, single-sided gold medal worn as jewelry that was produced in Northern Europe predominantly during the Migration Period of the Germanic Iron Age (including the Ven ...
. ''S. sericea'' blooms in May and fruits in June.
References
sericea
Trees of Northern America
{{salicaceae-stub