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Scientific Name
Synonyms
Family
Common Names
Origin
Cultivation
Naturalised Distribution
Habitat
Habit
Distinguishing Features
Stems and Leaves
Flowers and Fruit
Reproduction and Dispersal
Environmental Impact
Legislation
Management
Similar Species
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infestation (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

habit (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

rough, deeply-fissured bark on main trunk (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

smooth bark on younger trunk (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

golden yellow twigs and elongated leaves (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

orange coloured twigs and bright green leaves (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

close-up of twigs and finely-toothed leaf margins (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

close-up of paler, hairy, undersides of younger leaves (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

old flower cluster and brown winter buds (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

Salix alba var. vitellina

Scientific Name

Salix alba L. var. vitellina (L.) Stokes

Synonyms

Salix alba L. subsp. vitellina (L.) Arcang.
Salix vitellina L.

Family

Salicaceae

Common Names

golden upright willow, golden willow

Origin

The origin of this variety is obscure, but it may have came about through the cultivation of white willow (Salix alba ) in Europe.

Cultivation

Golden willow (Salix alba var. vitellina) has been widely planted around waterbodies and along waterways in the temperate regions of Australia.

Naturalised Distribution

Naturalised in many parts of south-eastern Australia (i.e. in Victoria, Tasmania, south-eastern South Australia, the ACT and the central tablelands region of New South Wales).

Habitat

A weed of waterways, riparian vegetation, lake edges, billabongs, swamps and wetlands in wetter temperate regions.

Habit

A relatively large upright (i.e. erect) tree with one or more trunks usually growing up to 12 m tall, but occasionally reaching up to 25 m in height. It loses its leaves during winter (i.e. it is deciduous).

Distinguishing Features

Stems and Leaves

The bark on the main trunk is greyish-brown in colour and eventually becomes rough and deeply fissured. Younger branches are hairy (i.e. pubescent) at first, but quickly becoming hairless (i.e. glabrescent). They usually take on a golden yellow or orange colour and may or may not be drooping in nature (i.e. pendent).

The alternately arranged leaves are borne on short stalks (i.e. petioles) and are elongated in shape (i.e. lanceolate or narrowly-elliptic. These leaves (3-13 cm long and 0.5-2.5 cm wide) have finely toothed (i.e. serrulate) margins and pointed tips (i.e. acuminate apices). Their upper surfaces are bright green hairless, or sparsely hairy when the leaves are young (i.e. glabrescent), while their undersides are pale green, silvery or bluish-green (i.e. glaucous) and more densely hairy (i.e. pubescent).

Flowers and Fruit

Separate male and female flowers are borne on separate trees (i.e. this species is dioecious). Both types of flowers are inconspicuous and are densely arranged in elongated clusters (i.e. catkins) in the upper leaf forks (i.e. axils). They do not have any sepals or petals, but each flower is subtended by a small bract. The male (i.e. staminate) flowers are green or greenish-yellow in colour and borne in relatively short clusters (3-6 cm long and about 1 cm across). They are about 4-5 mm long and consist of two or more yellow stamens. The female (i.e. pistillate) flowers are mostly green in colour and are usually borne in longer clusters (3-9 cm long and about 6 mm across). They are about 3 mm long and consist of an ovary topped with a stigma. Flowers are produced along with the new leaves in early spring.

The fruit is a small capsule (about 4 mm long) containing tiny seeds, each of which is topped with a tuft of silky hairs.

Reproduction and Dispersal

This species reproduces by seed and vegetatively via the rooting of detached twigs or branches.

The light and fluffy seeds are easily dispersed by wind and water, while twigs and branches may be spread during floods, by machinery, during removal, and in dumped garden waste.

Environmental Impact

Golden willow (Salix alba var. vitellina) is regarded as an environmental weed in Victoria, the ACT, Tasmania and New South Wales. It is one of the willows that, as a group, are regarded as a Weed of National Significance (WoNS). These species are primarily of concern along waterways, in wetlands and around other waterbodies. They compete strongly for space, water and nutrients, eventually displacing the native vegetation in the habitats they invade.

Golden willow (Salix alba var. vitellina) also freely hybridises with related species, especially crack willow (Salix fragilis), with the resulting hybrids sometimes being even more invasive (e.g. Salix x rubens).

For more on the environmental impact of willows (Salix spp.) in Australia, see Victorian Department of Sustainability and Environment Landcare Note entitled "Willows along watercourses: their impact compared to natives", which is avialable online at http://www.dpi.vic.gov.au.

Legislation

This species is declared under legislation in the following states and territories:

Management

For information on the management of this species see the following resources:

Similar Species

Golden willow (Salix alba var. vitellina) is very similar to white willow (Salix alba var. alba), but they can be distinguished by the followng differences:

It is also confused with some of the other willows (Salix spp.) with tree-like habits, and hybrids between this and other species can be extremely difficult to separate from each other. To distinguish between these, see one of the texts specifically developed for the identification of willows (Salix spp.) in Australia: