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PUSSY WILLOW AT A GLANCE

COMMON NAME: Pussy willow

SPECIES: Salix discolor, (Say'licks); willow family

SIZE: 4-10 feet tall and more, depending on variety; fast growers

EXPOSURE: Full sun.

FOLIAGE: Leaves alternate, usually narrow, mostly lance-shaped and tapering o both ends. Deciduous, meaning they fall off in the winter.

FLOWERS: Male and female furry catkin-type flowers on separate plants, blooming in early spring before leaves expand. A catkin is a scaly spike of unisexual flowers that fall after flowering or fruiting.

FRUIT: 2-valved capsule.

CULTURE: Likes moist, well-drained soil; dislikes shallow alkaline soil.

PRUNING: Tolerates pruning any time.

PROPAGATION: Root softwood cuttings in spring or hardwood cuttings in winter, especially easy to root in sand.

USES: Border or along water's edge. Look best in corner of garden.

PROBLEMS: Crown gall.

OTHER VARIETIES: S.chaenomeloides, red-bud pussy willow, one of most handsome with large catkins and red buds in winter; grows quickly to 15 feet.

S. gracilistyla Melanostachys, black pussy willow shrub 6-10 feet, with purple-black winter stems and purple-black flowers with red anthers that turn to yellow.

S. gracilistyla, or rosegold pussy willow shrub 4-10 feet, with showy male catkins pinkish or reddish and orange anthers.

S. sachalinensis Sekka, or Japanese fantail willow shrub or small tree 10-15 feet, a male cultivar whose branchlets are sometimes flattended and contorted; often used in dried floral arrangements.

S. caprea, French pussy willow, yellow male catkins and silvery pink female ones.

Sources: Taylor's Guide to Shrubs, American Horticulture A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants, Hillier Gardener's Guide to Trees & Shrubs, McDonald Garden Center

Feb. 1998

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