Shrub 1 - 4 m tall Leaves: alternate, on 5 - 12 mm long leafstalks, dark green above, strongly bluish-waxy beneath, 4 - 12 cm long, 1.5 - 6 cm wide, lance-shaped to narrowly egg-shaped with a rounded to heart-shaped base and pointed tip, round- to saw-toothed (teeth glandular) and thick. Flowers: either male or female, borne on separate trees (dioecious) in cylindrical catkins. The catkin is hairy and grows on a short, leafy stalk. Female catkin greenish with dark brown scales, 2 - 8 cm long. Ovary hairless. Male catkin white to silvery with dark brown scales, 1.5 - 4 cm long. Stamens two, with purple anthers (turning yellow). Fruit: a capsule, in 4 - 8 cm long clusters, stalked, brown, 5 - 11 mm long, and flask-shaped. Seeds have long, white, silky hairs attached. Twigs: yellowish green to reddish brown and hairy when young, becoming hairless. Buds: reddish brown, egg-shaped, pointed, flattened, hairy, and often appressed to the stem.

Similar species: In the Chicago Region, Salix myricoides var. myricoides differs from all other shrub willows by having saw-toothed, hairless leaves that are strongly bluish-waxy beneath and not revolute (rolled downward along the margins).

Flowering: late April to early May, before or with the leaves

Habitat and ecology: Occurs on open sand, on calcareous pond shores, and in old sand pits near Lake Michigan. Beyond the lake it is occasional in fens.

Occurence in the Chicago region: native

Etymology: Salix is the Latin word for willow. Myricoides means "resembling Myrica." Myrica derives from the Greek word for tamarisk, a shrub introduced from Eurasia.

Author: The Morton Arboretum