TREATMENT FROM THE JEPSON MANUAL (1993) |
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©Copyright 1993 by the Regents of the University of California
For up-to-date information about California vascular plants, visit the Jepson eFlora. |
AND IS MAINTAINED FOR ARCHIVAL PURPOSES ONLY |
Shrub, tree, generally dioecious (rarely monoecious)
Stem: trunk < 40 m; wood soft; bark smooth, bitter; buds scaly
Leaves simple, alternate, deciduous; stipules generally deciduous, often large
Inflorescence: catkin, generally appearing before leaves; each flower subtended by disk or 12 nectary glands and 1 bract
Flower: perianth 0
Staminate flower: stamens 1many
Pistillate flower: pistil 1, ovary superior, chamber 1, stigma lobes 24
Seeds many; hairs fine, white, cottony
Fruit: capsule; valves 24
Genera in family: 2 genera, 340 species: generally temp (except Australia, Malay Archipelago) moist places; many cultivated. Hybridization common; identification often difficult. Family description, key to genera by John O. Sawyer, Jr.
Shrub, tree, dioecious; bud scale 1, not sticky, margins generally fused (or free, overlapping)
Stem: twigs generally flexible and not glaucous
Leaf: blade linear to widely obovate, entire to toothed, generally ± hairy
Inflorescence: dense catkin emerging before, with, or after leaves, sessile or on a short leafy shoot; bract subtending each flower
Flower: perianth 0
Staminate flower: stamens 18
Pistillate flower: ovary stalked or sessile, style 1 or 0, stigmas 2, each sometimes 2-lobed; nectaries 1several, generally rod-like, generally between inflorescence axis and flower
Fruit: valves 2
Species in genus: ± 400 species: ± worldwide, especially n temp, arctic
Etymology: (Latin: ancient name)
Reference: [Argus 1986 Syst Bot Monog 9:1170; Dorn 1976 Canad J Bot 54:27692789]
Difficult, highly variable. Not all specimens will key easily; sprout shoots and other extreme forms are not included in keys, may require field comparison for identification. Studies of variation, hybridization needed.
Native |
Tree < 30 m
Stem: twigs yellowish, velvety or soft-shaggy-hairy, becoming glabrous, sometimes brittle at base; bud scale margins free, overlapping
Leaves: petiole with glands; young leaves hairy; mature blade 67130 mm, narrowly lanceolate or narrowly ovate, acuminate (base wedge-shaped), finely serrate, glabrous or becoming so, not glaucous below
Inflorescence appearing with leaves, 2265 mm, on leafy shoot 425 mm (margins of shoot-leaves finely serrate); flower bract tawny; pistillate bract deciduous after flower
Staminate flower: stamens 48
Pistillate flower: ovary glabrous or hairy, style 0.10.3 mm, stalk 1.23.2 mm
Chromosomes: 2n=38
Ecology: Common. Streamsides, marshes, seepage areas, washes, meadows
Elevation: generally < 500 m (-231600 m).
Bioregional distribution: Inner North Coast Ranges, Cascade Range Foothills, Sierra Nevada Foothills, Great Central Valley, South Coast, Peninsular Ranges, Desert (especially Great Central Valley, Desert)
Distribution outside California: to Texas, Mexico
Flowering time: MarApr
Synonyms: var. variabilis C.R. Ball
Horticultural information: WET: 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24; STBL.