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Alpine Willow
Salix petrophila
  
About Alpine Willow (Salix petrophila) 0 Nurseries Carry This Plant Salix arctica (Arctic Willow) is a tiny creeping willow (family Salicaceae). It is adapted to survive in harsh Arctic and subarctic environments, and has a circumpolar distribution round the Arctic Ocean. It grows in tundra and rocky moorland, and is the northernmost woody plant in the world, occurring far above the tree line up to the northern limit of land on the north coast of Greenland. It also occurs further south in North America on high altitude Alpine tundra south to the Sierra Nevada in California and the Rocky Mountains in New Mexico, and in Asia to Xinjiang in China. It is typically a low shrub growing to only 1-15 centimeter (0.39-5.9 inches) in height (rarely to 25 centimeter (9.8 inches) high), however in the Pacific Northwest it may reach 50 centimeter (20 inches) in height, and has round, shiny green leaves 1-4 centimeter (0.39-1.6 inches) long and broad, rarely up to 8 centimeters (3.1 inches) long and 6 centimeter (2.4 inches) broad; they are hairy, with long silky, silvery hairs. Like the rest of the willows, Arctic Willow is dioecious, with male and female catkins on separate plants. As a result the plant's appearance varies; the female catkins are red-coloured, while the male catkins are yellow-coloured.
Plant Description
Plant Type
Plant Type
Tree

Size
Size
0.03 - 1.8 ft tall

Dormancy
Dormancy
Winter Deciduous

Flower Color
Flower Color
Cream, Yellow

Wildlife Supported
 


Landscaping Information
Sun
Sun
Full Sun

Common uses
Common uses
Bird Gardens, Butterfly Gardens, Bee Gardens

Propagation
Propagation?
For propagating by seed: No treatment. Use fresh seeds (usually only viable a few days). Seeds should not be covered or pressed into a medium. Seedbed should be kept saturated for the first month. Easily propogated from cuttings.

Natural Setting
Site Type
Site Type
Tundra

Climate
Climate
Annual Precipitation: 18.7" - 122.4", Summer Precipitation: 0.87" - 4.15", Coldest Month: 17.2" - 46.2", Hottest Month: 38.4" - 69.3", Humidity: 1.34" - 14.30", Elevation: 5985" - 13324"

Alternative Names
Common Names: Arctic Willow


Sources include: Wikipedia. All text shown in the "About" section of these pages is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Plant observation data provided by the participants of the California Consortia of Herbaria, Sunset information provided by Jepson Flora Project. Propogation from seed information provided by the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden from "Seed Propagation of Native California Plants" by Dara E. Emery. Sources of plant photos include CalPhotos, Wikimedia Commons, and independent plant photographers who have agreed to share their images with Calscape. Other general sources of information include Calflora, CNPS Manual of Vegetation Online, Jepson Flora Project, Las Pilitas, Theodore Payne, Tree of Life, The Xerces Society, and information provided by CNPS volunteer editors, with special thanks to Don Rideout. Climate data used in creation of plant range maps is from PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University, using 30 year (1981-2010) annual "normals" at an 800 meter spatial resolution.

Links:   Jepson eFlora Taxon Page  CalPhotos  Wikipedia  Calflora


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