Salix arctica Pall.
arctic willow
Salicaceae (Willow family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
arctic willow
Salicaceae (Willow family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Species Information click to expand contents
General:
Dwarf shrubs, 3-25 (50) cm tall, layering; branches decumbent, trailing or ascending, flexible at base, sometimes strongly glaucous; twigs yellow-brown to violet, smooth.
Leaves:
Alternate, simple, narrowly to broadly elliptic or narrowly to broadly egg-shaped, 1-8.5 cm long, 0.5-6 cm wide, lower surface glaucous, sparsely long soft-hairy or with a silky beard at tip, hairs white, upper surface shiny or dull, smooth or sparsely long soft-hairy near margin, margins entire, bases and tips pointed to rounded; leaf stalks without glandular dots at top; stipules absent, rudimentary, or, if leaflike, soon deciduous.
Fruits:
Capsules which split open to release the seeds, each of which is surrounded by a tuft of hairs; stalks 0.2-1.6 mm long.
Notes:
The southern Rocky Mountain species, S. petrophila Rydb. has been segregated out of S. arctica in this treatment.
Illustration click to expand contents
If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.
Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
Ecology click to expand contents
Ecological Framework for Salix arctica
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)
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 |
||
|
Avg |
Min |
Max |
|
| Elevation
(metres) |
1862 | 7 | 2610 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
21 | 0 | 92 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
163 | 0 | 360 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
3 | 0 | 8 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
B | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
444 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
ESSF | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
AT(45), BAFA(133), BWBS(2), ESSF(164), IMA(16), MH(19), SWB(15) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range click to expand contents
Mesic to dry meadows, slopes, ridges, heath and thickets in the subalpine and alpine zones; common to infrequent in mountains of BC except the Queen Charlotte Islands; circumpolar, N to AK, YT and NT, E to NF, S to MT, ID and OR; N Eurasia.
Status Information click to expand contents
Synonyms click to expand contents
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Salix anglorum auct. non Cham.
Salix anglorum var. antiplasta Schneid.
Salix anglorum var. araioclada Schneid.
Salix anglorum var. kophophylla Schneid.
Salix arctica subsp. crassijulis (Trautv.) Skvort.
Salix arctica subsp. tortulosa (Trautv.) HultΘn
Salix arctica var. antiplasta (C.K. Schneid.) Fernald
Salix arctica var. araioclada (C.K. Schneid.) Raup
Salix arctica var. brownei Andersson
Salix arctica var. kophophylla (C.K. Schneid.) Polunin
Salix arctica var. pallasii (Andersson) Kurtz
Salix arctica var. tortulosa (Trautv.) Raup
Salix brownei (Anderss.) Bebb
Salix crassijulis Trautv.
Salix hudsonensis C.K. Schneid.
Salix pallasii Anderss.
Salix pallasii var. crassijulis (Trautv.) Anderss.
Salix tortulosa Trautv.