with …

twigs=yellow or orange, long, slender, waving
😭︎ weeping willow  Salix babylonica

twigs=yellow-to-orange, overall shape too lumpy to be weeping willow
◼︎ black willow  Salix nigra

twigs=yellow or green, with fine silky ⫴ hairs;  bark=gray or brown
◼︎ white willow  Salix alba

twigs=yellow-to-yellow-brown, buds=large, leaf scars=U-shaped;  bark=​gray or brown
◼︎ peach-leaved willow  Salix amygdaloides

twigs=brown-to-black, brittle bases (easy to break);  bark=​brown-to-black
◼︎ black willow  Salix nigra

🚧 In the future, we will add here identi­fi­ca­tion paths for specific species of willow, probably starting with:
shrub[?] (½—3½ m tall) (2—12 ft tall)
prairie willow  Salix humilis


Please let us know which other species you would like to see here, using the button at the bottom of this page.

Learn more about willow genus Salix (Salix spp.)

A group of about 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs.

Part of willow  family Salicaceae.

Native to cold and temperate regions of the 🌐︎ Northern Hemisphere, usually in areas with moist soils.   🗺 Map by county (🇺🇸 USA-48) (color key), 🗺 map by county (🇺🇸 USA-48) (3 species, not identified above).   🗺 Map of moist soils (🇺🇸 USA-48) (bottom left > select).

Uses by native peoples
(Ethnobotany database)

Salix hosts caterpillars of 455 species
of butterflies and moths, in some areas.

In areas where these plants are native, these plants are among the wet-loving (but terrestrial ) shrubs and trees planted to protect eroding streambanks, lakeshores, floodplains, stormwater detention ponds, road slopes and landslides, using a process called live-staking.

🔍︎ 🔍︎ images Discover Life Encyclopedia of Life Michigan Flora Flora of North America USDA PLANTS db Wikipedia