Scientific Name

Salix nigra Marshall

Family

Salicaceae

Common Names

black willow

Origin

Native to large parts of North America (i.e. eastern Canada and eastern and central USA).

Naturalised Distribution

Widely naturalised in south-eastern Australia (i.e. in many parts of eastern New South Wales and in north-eastern Victoria). Also sparingly naturalised in south-eastern Queensland and possibly naturalised in the ACT.

Notes

Black willow (Salix nigra) is regarded as an environmental weed in New South Wales and Victoria, and as a potential environmental weed in the ACT. It is one of the willows (Salix spp.) that together as a group are regarded as a Weed of National Significance (WoNS).

This species was deliberately introduced and cultivated for the stabilization of creekbanks. It is now becoming an invasive woody weed of these areas, and also has the potential to become a major invader of swamps and wetlands.