WIllow id please?

[Naturenutz]

Is it possible to id the tree from this photo. I think its a willow but would like confirmation please.

[Johnny81]

I will have a stab at Salix caprea, but willows are difficult to identify from catkins alone, they are hard to identify full stop. Dorts or one of the others may give you a definite answer .

EDIT! If anyone of our more experienced botanists here would like to give a willow ID master class, I am all ears! A family I would much like to pin down myself, but with all the hybrids..... meh, can willows be identified by catkins alone?

[Dorts]

Difficult to be absolutely sure just from the male flowers, but it's probably either Goat or Grey Willow.


[/QUOTEJohnny81]EDIT! If anyone of our more experienced botanists here would like to give a willow ID master class, I am all ears! A family I would much like to pin down myself, but with all the hybrids..... meh, can willows be identified by catkins alone?[/quote]

I know of very few people capable of giving a 'Willow ID Master-Class' and I am not one of them!
Willows are notoriously difficult, they hybridise very readily, some being three-way and possibly even four-way crosses.

I think the best way is for wabbers to post plant material for ID
including pics of whole tree, leaves, (both sides), current years wood c/u, seeds etc,etc, and we'll go from there.

It is possible to have a good idea of species from seed alone but as much other material will help no-end.
Dorts.

[Dorts]

Additional to previous post.

All Willows species hybridise very readily with some hybrids being more common than the parents. Well over a hundred species/sub-species/vars and hybrids have been recorded in Britain. Some are 'triple cross hybrids' just make it even more confusing.

I will try to put together a general guide that may help, but anyone wishing to take a serious interest in our willows could do no better than the BSBI Handbook No.4 Willows and poplars of Great Britain and Ireland by R D Merkle, (visit the BSBI site for more info).
Dorts

[Hobjob]

Originally Posted by Dorts

I will try to put together a general guide that may help, but anyone wishing to take a serious interest in our willows could do no better than the BSBI Handbook No.4 Willows and poplars of Great Britain and Ireland by R D Merkle, (visit the BSBI site for more info).
Dorts

I took one look at that on a shelf at Flatford once - and put it down again

[Dorts]

Originally Posted by Hobjob

I took one look at that on a shelf at Flatford once - and put it down again

I think I know where you're coming from Hobjob, it is a rather 'technical' book, but then identifying Willows can be a very 'technical' business. I think perhaps it's a book for those who are already beyond the first rungs of the Salix ladder. But never-the-less, very useful.
Dorts.

[Johnny81]

Cheers Dorts, I did mean identification from a catkin point of veiw (which as you say is difficult without other parts of the tree). Will try and check out that handbook, I am still yet to sign up to the BSBI!

[Dorts]

Best advice I can give you is to try and fing a good 'Field Guide' that covers trees, and Willows in particular in some detail. Then take the book to the tree rather than the other way round.

Look at the relevant characters and see how many match-up to those in the Guide. If a good 90% plus, then you probably have your species. If far less, then you are likely to have a hybrid.
Once you get to know the important characters of each species, it becomes a little easier to detemine that a plant may be a hybrid. The next step of course is "what hybrid?". This is where it gets a litle more complicated.

Never get too frustrated at not being able to determine which species a plant is, as it will get easier with time as things drop into place. And most of all, 'Have fun'!
Dorts.