WillowWorld
of Michael Dodge
Salix planifolia
Diamond or Plane-leaf Willow
This native North American species is found in Arctic and high mountain locations, ranging from the Arctic, down to the Western Mountains and along the Canadian border as far east as Newfoundland, Maine and New Hampshire. I grew it very successfully in Vermont at lower altitudes. It forms small trees or large shrubs and usually as a rounded bush. There is another similar species called Salix pulchra that is native to the extreme Northwest and hybridizes with Salix planifolia where they overlap. In fact, planifolia hybridizes readily with several different species in the wild; one of the plants I received from Mike Kintgen of the Denver BG and it may be a hybrid with Salix drummondii as it is very much larger than the other two Salix planifolia I had (from New Hampshire and The Montreal Botanical Garden (with permission.)
Female Catkins in their prime in New Hampshire. Photo by F. Scott Bailey, April 2022