Salix drummondiana Barratt ex Hook.
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TAXONOMY
 
Family: Salicaceae
Genus: Salix
 
Species Synonyms: Salix bella Piper
Salix covillei Eastw.
Salix drummondiana var. bella (Piper) Ball
Salix drummondiana var. subcaerulea (Piper) Ball
Salix drummondiana ssp. subcaerulea (Piper) E. Murr.
Salix pachnophora Rydb.
Salix subcaerulea Piper
Common Names: Drummond’s willow
blue willow
 
DISTRIBUTION
 
Canada: southeastern Yukon – eastern British Columbia – western Alberta – northwestern Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan: northwestern Saskatchewan; Lake Athabasca
Ecoregion: Athabasca Plain
 
HABITAT
 
Saskatchewan: sand dunes
Canada: moist grounds and shores
 
RARITY STATUS
 
Provincial Status According
to Harms (2003):
Threatened
Nature Conservancy Status:
G4G5
Saskatchewan Species at
Risk Status:
None
COSEWIC Status:
None
 
Salix drummondiana is threatened because of rarity in Saskatchewan. No immediate threats are known but may occur in the future.
 
SPECIES DESCRIPTION
 
Height: 1 – 4 m
Stems: branches dark reddish-brown to blackish, glabrous or glabrescent, prominently glaucous, brittle; branchlets yellowish-green to brown, puberulent to glabrous
Leaves: simple, alternate, 4.5 – 11 cm long, 3 – 6 cm wide, narrowly elliptic to obovate, base acute, apex acute, upper surface dark green and sparsely villous, lower surface densely sericeous or lanate, midrib tawny, immature leaves densely white-sericeous, margin entire to glandular or glandular-crenate, revolute; stipules 3 – 8 mm long, narrowly elliptic or minute lobes
Inflorescence: catkins appearing before the leaves, sessile; staminate catkins 1 – 5 cm long; pistillate catkins 3.5 – 11 cm long
Flowers: staminate flowers with glabrous filaments; pistillate flowers with sericeous ovaries
Fruits: capsules tawny, sparsely sericeous; bracts black or dark brown, elongate, pubescent with long, straight hairs
 
SALIX KEY FOR SPECIES WITH GLABROUS OVARIES IN SASKATCHEWAN
* For a more accurate and in depth Salix key, the reader is referred to the interactive key created by Dr. G. Argus. This key is available through the Alaska Natural Heritage Program at the University of Alaska.
   
1 Bracts of catkins white, yellow, or golden brown
2
1 Bracts of catkins brown to reddish or black
12
 
2 Pistillate capsules sessile or nearly so, stipe less than 1 mm
3
2 Pistillate capsules definitely stalked, stipe more than 1 mm
8
 
3 Twigs golden, yellow, orange or yellowish-green (leaves green, dull)
4
3 Twigs greyish to yellowish-brown (leaves yellowish-green, semi-glossy)
6
 
4 Pistillate catkins 1.5 – 8 cm long; dense ticket-forming shrubs; twigs light yellow to orange; capsules 4 – 8 mm long (leaves linear, sides parallel)
S. exigua ssp. interior
4 Pistillate catkins 3 – 6 cm long; shrub or tree; twigs golden yellow to orange to greenish; capsule 3.5 – 5 mm long (leaves lanceolate to ovate)
5
 
5 Large tree; twigs golden yellow to orange
S. alba
5 Shrub 2 – 6 m tall; twigs yellowish-green
S. pentandra
 
6 Twigs shiny (leaves white-glaucous below)
S. serissima
6 Twigs dull (leaves pale beneath)
7
 
7 Commonly less than 3 m tall, pistillate catkins to 10 cm, capsules to 7 mm long, on pedicels to 2 mm long
S. lucida ssp. lasiandra
7 To about 5 m tall, pistillate catkins to 5 cm long, capsules < 7 mm long, on pedicels ca. 1 mm long
S. lucida ssp. lucida
 
8 Pistillate catkins 3 – 8 cm long; twigs drooping or arching
S. amygdaloides
8 Pistillate catkins 1 – 4 cm long; twigs erect or ascending
9
 
9 Twigs shiny
S. serissima
9 Twigs dull
10
 
10 Slender shrub, 40 – 100 cm tall; bracts persistent; sphagnum bogs and swamps (leaves green above, white-glaucous below; stipules absent)
S. pedicillaris
10 Shrub or small tree to 4 m tall; bracts caducous; swamps, shores and wet meadows (leaves yellowish-green above, may be glaucous below; stipules present)
11
 
11 Commonly less than 3 m tall, pistillate catkins to 10 cm, capsules to 7 mm long, on pedicels to 2 mm long
S. lucida ssp. lasiandra
11 To about 5 m tall, pistillate catkins to 5 cm long, capsules < 7 mm long, on pedicels ca. 1 mm long
S. lucida ssp. lucida
 
12 Low, decumbent or trailing shrubs, < 1 m tall
S. myrtilloides
12 Shrubs 1 – 10 m tall
13
 
13 Twigs closely gray-pubescent; shrub to 7 m tall
S. eriocephala var. famelica
13 Twigs glabrous; generally to 4 m tall
14
 
14 Buds with a balsamic fragrance
S. pyrifolia
14 Buds not fragrant
15
 
15 Pistillate catkins sessile or subsessile (leaves glaucous below)
16
15 Pistillate catkins on leafy peduncles (leaves not glaucous below)
S. pseudomyrsinites
 
16 Pistillate catkins 1 – 3 cm long (leaves short acuminate)
S. turnorii
16 Pistillate catkins 3 – 7 cm long (leaves acute to obtuse)
S. pseudomonticola
   
SALIX KEY FOR SPECIES WITH PUBESCENT OVARIES IN SASKATCHEWAN
   
1 Shrubs trailing or diminutive (< 10 cm tall above ground)
2
1 Shrubs erect, taller than 10 cm
3
 
2 Pistillate scales black; capsules 6 – 9 mm long; stems trailing
S. arctophila
2 Pistillate scales reddish to yellowish; capsules 4 – 5 mm long; stems mostly buried
S. reticulata ssp. reticulata
 
3 New twigs permanently white felty-tomentose; Lake Athabasca only (leaves nearly white, ovate to lanceolate)
S. silicola
3 New twigs glabrous or otherwise pubescent; distribution various (leaves generally green, at least above)
4
 
4 Branches gray-brown, exfoliating; shrubs 30 – 200 cm tall; Lake Athabasca
S. athabascensis
4 Branches various colours, not exfoliating; shrubs 30 cm to 4 m tall
5
 
5 Bracts dark brown to black
6
5 Bracts yellow to brown
13
 
6 Bark dark brown; catkins nearly globose; shrub 2 – 3 m tall; Lake Athabasca
S. tyrellii
6 Bark reddish, greyish, dark brown to yellowish-brown; catkins generally longer than wide; distribution various
7
 
7 Pistillate catkins sessile or nearly so
8
7 Pistillate catkins on leafy peduncles
10
 
8 Pistillate scales black
9
8 Pistillate scales dark brown
S. arbusculoides
 
9 Bark brown; capsules 4 – 6 mm long; shrubs 3 – 5 m tall; boreal forest
S. pellita
9 Bark greyish; capsules 5 – 10 mm long; shrubs 1 – 5 m tall; widespread in Saskatchewan, prairies, aspen woods and mixed woods
S. discolor
 
10 Branches dark brown to yellow-brown
S. scouleri
10 Branches dark brown to reddish-brown
11
 
11 Capsules purplish tinged; northwest Saskatchewan
S. x brachypurpurea
11 Capsules not purplish; distribution various
12
 
12 Pistillate catkins 1 – 3 cm long (leaves 5 – 10 cm long, margins glandular-serrulate on later leaves)
S. petiolaris
12 Pistillate catkins 2 – 6 cm long (leaves 3 – 5 cm long, margins slightly revolute, sub-entire to remotely toothed)
S. planifolia
 
13 Capsules 8 – 10 mm long, villous to gray-tomentose (leaves green below, pubescence of red and white matted hairs that are soon lost)
S. macalliana
13 Capsules < 8 mm long, pubescence various (leaves various)
14
 
14 Shrubs < 1.5 m tall
15
14 Shrubs or small trees to 4 m tall
17
 
15 Capsules white tomentose; styles red
S. candida
15 Capsules lanate to villous; styles green
 
16 Pistillate catkins 1 – 2 cm long; bark grey to reddish; branches villous (leaves narrowly elliptic to obovate, greyish-white hairs on both sides; see leaf key for varieties)
S. brachycarpa
16 Pistillate catkins 2 – 5 cm long; bark dull grey; branches gray tomentose (leaves obovate to elliptic, dark green, pubescent to glabrous above, glaucous below)
S. glauca ssp. glabrescens
 
17 Capsules 5 – 8 mm; pistillate catkins 2 – 5 cm long; bark reddish (leaves 2 – 6 cm long)
S. bebbiana
17 Capsules 3 – 6 mm long; pistillate catkins 3.5 – 11 cm long; bark dark reddish-brown to blackish, often prominently glaucous (leaves 4.5 – 11 cm long)
S. drummondiana
   
SALIX KEY BY LEAVES IN SASKATCHEWAN  
   
1 Leaves green below
2
1 Leaves glaucous below
15
 
2 Leaves linear, the sides parallel
S. exigua ssp. interior
2 Leaves narrowly elliptic to broadly ovate or obovate
3
 
3 Leaves densely pubescent beneath
4
3 Leaves glabrous or only sparsely pubescent beneath
7
 
4 Length to width ratio of leaves 2:1 or 3:1; trees or tall shrubs 2 – 7 m tall; leaves densely villous to sericeous below; margin entire to revolute
S. scouleriana
4 Length to width ratio of leaves 6:1; shrubs to 5 m tall; leaves sericeous or lanate below; margin entire to shallowly toothed, may be revolute
5
 
5 Shrubs 3 – 5 m tall; leaves narrowly lanceolate, densely sericeous or lanate below, glabrous above
S. pellita
5 Shrubs less than 3 m tall; leaves narrowly elliptic to obovate, sericeous or lanate below, pubescent above
6
 
6 Leaves narrowly elliptic, margin entire to shallowly toothed; upper surface dark green, sometimes turning dark brown, thinly lanate; shrubs 30 – 150 cm (catkins sessile)
S. candida
6 Leaves narrowly elliptic to distantly glandular or crenate-glandular, upper surface dark green, sparsely villous to glabrous; shrubs 1 – 3
S. drummondiana
 
7 Leaf margins entire; leaves and stems persistently white felty; Lake Athabasca
S. silicola
7 Leaf margins entire to toothed; leaves and stems various but not persistently white felty; distribution various
8
 
8 Petioles glandular at leaf base; leaves ovate to elliptic, glossy above, margins glandular-serrate
9
8 Petioles not glandular; leaves elliptic to obovate, not glossy above, margins glandular-serrate to crenate
10
 
9 Leaf base round, green above, apex caudate-acuminate
S. lucida ssp. caudata
9 Leaf base obtuse, very dark green above, apex short-acuminate
S. pentandra
 
10 Low shrubs (< 1 m tall), usually decumbent or trailing
S. myrtillifolia
10 Shrubs usually over 2 m tall, erect
11
 
11 Leaves coriaceous, matted with white and reddish hairs that soon fall off
S. macalliana
11 Leaves thin, pubescence various
12
 
12 Leaves lanceolate, 3 – 8 cm long, margin serrulate
S. eriocephala var. famelica
12 Leaves elliptic to obovate, 2 – 9 cm long, margin serrulate to glandular or crenate
13
 
13 Leaves 5 – 9 cm long; branchlets highly glossy
S. serissima
13 Leaves 2 – 5 cm long; branchlets sparsely pubescent or dull
14
 
14 Young leaves reddish, sparsely villous; northern Saskatchewan
S. pseudomyrsinites
14 Young leaves green, sparsely covered in ferruginous hairs; Lake Athabasca
S. tyrellii
 
15 Dwarf shrubs, trailing or erect, < 10 cm tall
16
15 Shrubs or trees, > 30 cm tall to 10 m
17
 
16 Shrub trailing along the ground; upper leaf surface smooth
S. arctophila
16 Shrub erect, diminutive, mostly below ground; upper leaf surface impressed veiny
S. reticulata ssp. reticulata
 
17 Leaf margins entire or indistinctly toothed, may be revolute
18
17 Leaf margins distinctly toothed
29
 
18 Mature leaves densely pubescent below
19
18 Mature leaves glabrous to glabrescent or sparsely hairy
22
 
19 Upper leaf surface glossy and dark green; stem epidermis exfoliating
S. glauca ssp. glabrescens
19 Upper leaf surface dull or pubescent; stem epidermis not exfoliating
20
 
20 Petiole green; shrubs or trees to 5 m tall; branching divaricate; leaves not appearing in fan-shaped arrangements
S. bebbiana
20 Petiole reddish to yellowish; shrubs 0.3 – 1.5 m tall; branching not divaricate; leaves appearing in a fan-shaped arrangement because of short internodes
21
 
21 From sand dunes of Lake Athabasca
S. brachycarpa var. psammophilus
21 Distributed in northern Canada in meadows, thickets and fens
S. brachycarpa var. brachycarpa
 
22 Shrubs 30 – 100 cm tall; branches gray-brown, exfoliating; Lake Athabasca
S. athabascensis
22 Shrubs usually over 1 m tall (except S. glauca var. glabrescens); branches reddish to gray; distribution various
23
 
23 Leaves 5 – 10 cm long
24
23 Leaves less than 6 cm long
25
 
24 Leaf length to width ratio 3:1
S. discolor
24 Leaf length to width ratio 6:1
S. petiolaris
 
25 Tall shrubs or trees, 2 – 10 m tall
S. discolor
25 Low shrubs, 20 – 400 cm tall
26
 
26 Leaves glossy and dark green above
S. glauca ssp. glabrescens
26 Leaves dull above or glossy with sunken veins
27
 
27 Leaves rugose below
S. bebbiana
27 Leaves veiny or not, but not rugose below
 
28 Leaves elliptic to obovate, thinly glaucous above, leaf length to width ratio 4:1
S. pedicillaris
28 Leaves elliptic, glossy with sunken veins, leaf length to width ration 3:1
S. planifolia
 
29 Leaves thin and aromatic when crushed
S. pyrifolia
29 Leaves not aromatic
30
 
30 Margins crenate or undulate
31
30 Margins serrate, may be glandular
32
 
31 Branches dark brown to yellowish, glabrescent; shrubs 2 – 11 m tall
S. discolor
31 Branches reddish-brown, pubescent to glabrescent; shrubs 0.5 – 5 m tall
S. bebbiana
 
32 Leaves pubescent below
33
32 Leaves glabrous below
35
 
33 Leaf length to width ratio 6:1
34
33 Leaf length to width ratio 3:1
S. planifolia
 
34 Trees to 20 m tall; leaves with appressed white, silky hairs above and below
S. alba
34 Shrubs 1 – 4 m tall; leaves glossy and glabrous above, silky-hairy below
S. arbusculoides
 
35 Petioles glandular at leaf base
36
35 Petioles glandless at leaf base
38
 
36 Stipules minute, glandular lobes; flowering in late summer
S. serissima
36 Stipules foliar, semi-ovate; flowering in early summer
37
 
37 Commonly less than 3 m tall, mature leaves caudate-acuminate (pistillate catkins to 10 cm, capsules to 7 mm long, on pedicels to 2 mm long)
S. lucida ssp. lasiandra
37 To about 5 m tall, mature leaves caudate acuminate to acuminate (pistillate catkins to 5 cm long, capsules < 7 mm long, on pedicels ca. 1 mm long)
S. lucida ssp. lucida
 
38 Stipules persistent, conspicuous, ovate
39
38 Stipules deciduous or inconspicuous or linear
40
 
39 To 7 m tall, branchlets reddish-brown, gray pubescent, young leaves green
S. eriocephala var. famelica
39 To 4 m tall; branchlets yellowish to reddish, glabrous to villous, young leaves reddish
S. pseudomonticola
 
40 Leaf apex abruptly tapering to a slender tip
S. amygdaloides
40 Leaf apex acute or shortly acuminate
41
 
41 Leaf base attenuate
S. petiolaris
41 Leaf base rounded; Lake Athabasca
42
 
42 New leaves white tomentose, becoming greyish villous, then glabrescent; leaves lanceolate (pistillate catkins on leafy shoots)
S. x brachypurpurea
42 New leaves glabrous; leaves lanceolate to elliptic (pistillate catkins subsessile)
S. turnorii