E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Salix hookeriana Barratt ex Hook.
Hooker's willow (coastal willow; dune willow)
Salicaceae (Willow family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

© Virginia Skilton  Email the photographer   (Photo ID #79703)

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Distribution of Salix hookeriana
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Species Information

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General:
Dioecious shrubs or trees, 0.6-8 m tall, not colonial; branches erect, flexible at base; twigs yellow- to red-brown, smooth or densely hairy.
Leaves:
Alternate, simple, elliptic to lance- or broadly egg-shaped, 3.6-11 cm long, 2-6.3 cm wide, lower surface glaucous, long soft-hairy or short-woolly to shaggy-hairy, sometimes nearly smooth, hairs white and rust-coloured, upper surface highly glossy, long soft-hairy to nearly smooth, margins entire to toothed, bases and tips pointed to rounded; leaf stalks without glandular dots at top; stipules absent, rudimentary, or leaflike on vigorous shoots.
Flowers:
Unisexual, lacking sepals and petals, borne in catkins which flower as leaves emerge or before them, the catkins stout, unstalked; floral bracts dark, hairs straight or wavy; stamens 2; ovaries 1, smooth or hairy; styles 0.6-2.3 mm long.
Fruits:
Capsules which split open to release the seeds, each of which is surrounded by a tuft of hairs; stalks 0.5-2 mm long.
Notes:
The ovaries of this species may be smooth or hairy. The latter condition is more common in BC. The phase of the species with smooth ovaries, nearly smooth leaves and prominent stipules is sometimes named S. piperi Bebb.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Habitat / Range

Swamps, lakeshores and moist interdunal depressions; common in coastal SW BC and the Queen Charlotte Islands; N to S AK and S to N CA.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Ecology

Ecological Framework for Salix hookeriana

The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)

Site Information
Value / Class

Minimum

Average

Maximum

Elevation (metres) 2 171 600
Slope Gradient (%) 0 6 120
Aspect (degrees)
[0 - N; 90 - E; 180 - S; 270 - W]
84 209 300
Soil Moisture Regime (SMR)
[0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic;
8 - hydric]
2 5 8
Modal Nutrient Regime
Class
D
Number of field plots
 species was recorded in:
45
Modal BEC Zone Class
CWH
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in: CDF(2), CWH(36), IDF(1)

Ecological Indicator Information

Shade-intolerant deciduous shrubs, restricted to the Pacific region. Occurs on nitrogen-medium soils in early stages of primary and secondary succession, and is restricted to very moist to wet soils.

SourceIndicator Plants of Coastal British Columbia (Information applies to coastal locations only)

Climate

The climate type for this species, as reported in the: "British Columbia plant species codes and selected attributes. Version 6 Database" (Meidinger et al. 2008), is cool mesothermal.

Synonyms and Alternate Names

Salix amplifolia Coville
Salix hookeriana var. laurifolia J.K. Henry
Salix hookeriana var. tomentosa J.K. Henry ex C.K. Schneid.
Salix piperi Bebb

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Links

Additional Photo Sources

General References