Scientific name: Salix cinerea L.
Common name: Grey Willow
Description
Habit: A shrub or tree, to 6 m high, with spreading branches forming a broad, rounded or flattened crown.
Leaves: Alternate, short-stalked, 4-8 cm long, often with small stipules that fall early; undivided, oval to lanceolate, blunt or pointed, margin slightly rolled back, often with rusty brown hairs developing later on the Summer, weakly and bluntly toothed; dull green, slightly hairy and not wrinkled on upperside, bluish-green and slightly hairy on lowerside.
Flowers: Dioecious, appearing before the leaves, small and numerous in erect, ovoid, catkins 2-3 cm 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: Dark reddish-brown, densely pubescent when young, becoming hairless; buds protected by a single scale-leaf.
Bark: Dark grey-brown, becoming fissured when older.
Habitat: Hedges, thickets and damp woods.Distribution: Widespread.
Native status: Native
Of conservation interest: No
The subspecies that occurs in this region is Salix cinerea subsp. oleifolia Macreight.
Salix atrocinerea Brot. is a synonym of Salix cinerea subsp. oleifolia.