Salix 'Patent Lumley’
Hybrid Bay Willow
(pentandra x lucida?)
‘Patent Lumley’ is a striking female clone that was introduced by the US Forestry Service in the early 1900’s as a cultivar of S. pentandra. I cannot find out any more information about this choice selection. Ours flowered for the first time in 2014 after 6 years in the nursery. Wow, did they put on a show! It produces an abundance of bright green female catkins with the emerging leaves in May. The foliage is one of the most attractive of all willows. Unlike Salix pentandra the branches are brittle (check out the video on the next variety page!). Hardy to Zone 3. Dried rod color: dark brown to black
USES: A great specimen plant for a large garden; useful for large living structures and coarse basketry; can be coppiced and pollarded.
This lovely specimen was photographed in the National Arboretum at Westonbirt, nr Tetbury Gloucestershire UK.
In summer it rivals holly bushes for its glossy foliage, but no prickles to deal with when they shed!
Beautiful glossy foliage that rivals S. lucida for its shine.
Paler underneath the leaves, like most willows.
Below are catkins of 'Patent Lumley', they are the showiest of all female willow catkins.
Below are female catkins starting to show signs of successful pollination.
At left a fresh young female catkin, at right the ovaries are swelling with successful pollination.
Name changed from
Salix pentandra 'Patent Lumley'
Female catkin with green and brown ovaries, the latter have split open to release the minute seed that is attached to the fluff. This allows a wind to blow them to a new home!
Willow Botany Lesson 101!
1] the leaf or lamina
2] in the center of the leaf is the mid-rib
3] veins run from the mid-rib in a network across the entire leaf
4] on the edges of the leaf the white dots are glands
5] the leaf is attached to the stem by the red petiole (this petiole is grooved on the upper side)
6] at the upper end of the petiole there are glands sticking up
7] at the bottom of the petiole is a flower bud in the axil of the leaf
8] on either side of the bud are leafy stipules
Four year-old trunk still green,
eventually gray.
September view of the glorious foliage
with next year's flower buds popping out of the leaf axil (joint where it meets the stem)
WillowWorld
of Michael Dodge