Plants of South Eastern New South Wales
Salix cinerea
Common name
Grey Sallow, Wild Pussy Willow, Pussy Willow, Common Sallow, Grey Willow
Family
Salicaceae
Where found
Along streams, lake margins, and swamps. Coast and ranges north of Jervis Bay. Canberra. Kosciuszko National Park. Western Slopes east and south of the Hume Highway.. Occasionally elsewhere.
Notes
Introduced deciduous shrub or small tree to 12 m high, branching from the ground into many erect stems, occasionally with a short trunk. Bark smooth, grey-brown, becoming fissured with age. Long visible ridges present when the bark is removed. Younger stems hairy to hairless. Leaves alternating up the stems, 2–9 cm long, 15–40 mm wide, grey-green and hairy above, ash-grey below, densely hairy or velvety, the hairs sometimes confined to the closely reticulate veins, rarely becoming hairless and variably glaucous; margins wavy amd toothed, tips pointed. Male and female flowers usually on different plants, occasionallly on the same plant. Individual flowers with 0 petals, in oval clusters (catkins), usually appearing before the new leaves. Male flowers with two or more yellow stamens. Female flowers small, green. Catkins 12–40 mm long, 10–20 mm wide, oval. Flowers spring.
subsp. cinerea: Branches typically widely spreading to slightly weeping with age. Twigs often retaining a dense tomentum, green or brownish-green. Leaves dull green and shortly hairy above, remaining covered in soft hairs below or becoming almost hairless, the hairs curly, relatively long, not rust-coloured, margins almost entire to strongly wavy and toothed.
subsp. oleifolia: Branches rigidly erect. Twigs becoming almost hairless, typically dark reddish-brown. Leaves lustrous dark green above and more or less hairless except on the veins, underside grey-glaucous with sparse short curly hairs, with a scattering (especially towards the tips) of often almost appressed rust-coloured hairs, margins weakly to strongly glandular-toothed, wavy or not.
Subpsecies not recognised in NSW.
A Weed of National Significance. General Biosecurity Duty with additional restrictions all NSW. Pest plant ACT. Noxious weed Vic.
PlantNET description: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Salix~cinerea (accessed 18 March 2021)
VICFLORA key to subspecies: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/flora/key/2279 (accessed 18 March 2021)
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