willow ID please

[leifus]

This was part of scrub taking over a meadow. Shrub-like



pretty sure it's a willow of some sort, any ideas?

[poschiavanus]

Willows have an apparently single scale leaf on the buds which is useful for generic identification. However, most ID texts suggest either using both flowers and mature leaves (mid-summer, early June is too early according to the local expert) or just the mature leaves.

Bud shape certainly differs on different shrub willows but I've never tried to cross-check against named specimens. Purple Willow usually has buds sub-opposite at the end of the stem, and Goat vs. Grey Willow can be separated by stripping the bark a second year twig and looking for ridges under the bark.

[leifus]

Originally Posted by poschiavanus

Willows have an apparently single scale leaf on the buds which is useful for generic identification. However, most ID texts suggest either using both flowers and mature leaves (mid-summer, early June is too early according to the local expert) or just the mature leaves.

Bud shape certainly differs on different shrub willows but I've never tried to cross-check against named specimens. Purple Willow usually has buds sub-opposite at the end of the stem, and Goat vs. Grey Willow can be separated by stripping the bark a second year twig and looking for ridges under the bark.

thanks for the info, I'll check next time!

[Dorts]

Certainly looks like a Willow - Salix sp. Probably either S. caprea or S. cinerea.
Goat Willow has downy twigs. As Posch. has said, Grey Willow can be determined by the ridges under the bark of 2-5 year old twigs.
Dorts.

[King Edward]

One tip for deciduous trees/shrubs in winter is to look for fallen leaves underneath, which can be helpful when combined with looking at the buds, bark etc. to make an ID, even if they're not in good enough condition to see all the features that would be present on live leaves.

[Dorts]

Originally Posted by King Edward

One tip for deciduous trees/shrubs in winter is to look for fallen leaves underneath, which can be helpful when combined with looking at the buds, bark etc. to make an ID, even if they're not in good enough condition to see all the features that would be present on live leaves.

KE makes a very good and usefull point. The first time I ever recorded Wild Pear was by finding fallen leaves in dense woodland. It was almost impossible to see the tree itself, but those leaves on the ground gave it away.
I have come across several other interesting species by the same method.
Dorts.

[poschiavanus]

Agree with Dorts, that KE's advice is very good. There's many a tree I've found by noticing fallen leaves (Gingko is one I particularly remember as I've noticed this more often than not this way).

I'd forgotten that some time ago I did photograph a few known twigs in winter, and these include a few willows. Now that I've been reminded I ought to add some more this year.

On one of my Flickr accounts: Twigs in Winter. IIRC these were all taken from known plants.

I've changed the rights on these to CC-BY-SA, so if anyone thinks they are useful they can be used elsewhere as long as they are credited and continue to be share-alike (I'm not sure if the WAB T&Cs are compatible with this license).

Posch

[leifus]

Thanks everyone. Yes I've been trying to teach myself how to identify trees in winter recently as I've been helping Plantlife put together a small booklet on the subject. I've collected a twig sample for about 20 of our commonest species.

[Brocakat]

Leifus - for your effforts to find info. on 'Winter Twigs' - I can reccomend you rooting-out a copy of the Brooke Bond Tea Card album " Trees in Britain "

There are a couple of pages in that album that beautifly illustrate the top 18
species found in G.B.