Scientific name: Salix aurita L.
Common name: Eared Willow
Description
Habit: A deciduous shrub, to 2 m high, rounded and bushy, with multiple, spreading, angular branches.
Leaves: Alternate, short-stalked, 2-4 cm long, with stipules that are large, leafy, ear-shaped, persistent; undivided, oval, oblong or round, wrinkled, often toothed with a distinct twist at the base; slightly hairy on upperside, very hairy on lowerside, strongly veined.
Flowers: Dioecious, appearing before leaves, small and numerous in erect catkins 15-25 mm long; solitary in axils of catkin bracts; much reduced, perianth absent; male flowers with 2 stamens; female flowers with 1-celled ovary, numerous ovules, short style and 2 stigmas.
Fruits: A small capsule, containing minute seeds, each with a tuft of silky hairs.
Twigs: Hairy when young, becoming hairless and dark reddish-brown; buds protected by a single scale-leaf.
Bark: Grey, smooth, having cracks or splits when older.
Habitat: Bogs, moorland, heathy ground, streamsides, hedges and scrub.Distribution: Occasional on the limestone, very frequent to abundant elsewhere.
Native status: Native
Of conservation interest: No