Scientific name: Salix viminalis L.
Common name: Osier
Description
Habit: A small tree or erect shrub, to 6 m high.
Leaves: Alternate, short-stalked, up to 20 cm long, undivided, linear, margins rolled back and slightly wavy, with narrow and sickle-shaped stipules; dull green and hairless on upper surface, white and silky hairy on lower surface.
Flowers: Dioecious, appearing before the leaves, small and numerous in ovoid or cylindrical catkins, 12-25 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 hairy capsule, containing minute seeds, each with a tuft of silky hairs.
Twigs: Yellowish brown to brown, very long, slender, straight, strong, flexible; hairy when young but smooth and shiny later; buds protected by a single scale-leaf.
Bark: Greyish-brown, fissured.
Habitat: Widely planted and Occasionally naturalised in marshes or by streams. Distribution: Occasional.
Native status: Not native; naturalised
Of conservation interest: No