Search Fact Sheets Virginia Tech Dendrology

Bebb's willow Salicaceae Salix bebbiana Sarg. Listen to the Latin Print a QR link to this factsheet symbol: SABE2
Leaf: Alternate, simple, elliptical to obovate, 2 to 4 inches long, margins entire or with a few shallow scattered teeth, dull dark green to gray-green above, white, hairy and distinctly net-veined beneath.
Flower: Species is dioecious; 1 to 2 inches long, fuzzy catkins, yellowish white, appearing in spring with the leaves.
Fruit: Small (1/4 inch), long-pointed, hairy capsules in oblong clusters; each capsule contains numerous small fuzzy seeds.
Twig: Slender, greenish brown to reddish brown, gray fuzz when young; gray pointed buds are appressed and have a single cap-like scale; numerous widely forking twigs.
Bark: Shiny gray-green when young with numerous reddish lenticles; later becoming quite rough and furrowed; diamond shaped patterns due to fungus often develop on the trunk.
Form: A large, densely branched shrub to 10 feet, occasionally grows as a small, multi-stemmed tree.
Looks like: pussy willow - Scouler willow - Sitka willow - MacKenzie's willow

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Additional Range Information: Salix bebbiana is native to North America. Range may be expanded by planting. Download the full-size PDF map.
External Links: USDAFS FEIS Silvics - USDA Plants Database
All material © 2021 Virginia Tech Dept. of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation; Photos and text by: John Seiler, Edward Jensen, Alex Niemiera, and John Peterson; Silvics reprinted from Ag Handbook 654; range map source information