Salix melanopsis Nutt.
dusky willow (dark sandbar willow)
Salicaceae (Willow family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
dusky willow (dark sandbar willow)
Salicaceae (Willow family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Species Information
General:
Dioecious shrubs, 0.8-4 m tall, forming colonies by root shoots; branches erect, flexible at base; twigs gray-brown, smooth or sparsely to densely hairy.
Leaves:
Alternate, simple, strap-shaped or narrowly oblong to narrowly elliptic, 3-8.5 cm long, 0.5-2 cm wide, lower surface glaucous or not, long soft-hairy to nearly smooth, hairs white, upper surface shiny, long soft-hairy to nearly smooth, margins usually minutely spiny-toothed, bases and tips pointed; leaf stalks without glandular dots at top; stipules leaflike.
Flowers:
Unisexual, lacking sepals and petals, borne in catkins which flower as leaves emerge or throughout season, the catkins slender, on leafy twigs; floral bracts pale, smooth or hairy, hairs wavy, female bracts deciduous; stamens 2; ovaries 1, smooth; styles 0.2-0.4 mm long.
Fruits:
Capsules which split open to release the seeds, each of which is surrounded by a tuft of hairs; stalks 0.2-0.7 mm long.
Notes:
Salix melanopsis and its long soft-hairy-leaved phase, which has been called S. sessilifolia var. vancouverensis Brayshaw, differ from S. sessilifolia in having shorter stigmas and nearly smooth or long soft-hairy rather than densely silky leaves.
Illustration
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
Ecological Framework for Salix melanopsis
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) |
1164 | 315 | 2180 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
6 | 0 | 65 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
209 | 86 | 270 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
5 | 2 | 8 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
D | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
16 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
ESSF | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
BWBS(1), ESSF(6), ICH(4), IDF(1), SBS(3) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Pioneer on moist to mesic, sandy or gravelly floodplains of streams and rivers in the steppe and montane zones; infrequent in S BC, rare northward; E to AB and S to CO, UT, and CA.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Salix bolanderiana Rowlee
Salix exigua subsp. melanopsis (Nutt.) Cronquist
Salix exigua var. gracilipes (Ball) Cronq.
Salix exigua var. tenerrima (Henderson) Schneid.
Salix fluviatilis auct. non Nutt.
Salix fluviatilis var. tenerrima (Henderson) T.J. Howell
Salix longifolia var. tenerrima Henderson
Salix melanopsis var. bolanderiana (Rowlee) Schneid.
Salix melanopsis var. gracilipes Ball
Salix melanopsis var. kronkheittii L. Kelso
Salix melanopsis var. tenerrima (Henderson) Ball
Salix parksiana Ball
Salix sessilifolia var. vancouverensis Brayshaw
Salix tenerrima (Henderson) Heller