Plants of South Eastern New South Wales
Salix x fragilis nothovar. fragilis
Common name
Crack Willow
Family
Salicaceae
Where found
Along streams, lake margins, and swamps. Widespread.
Notes
Introduced deciduous tree to 25 m high, spreading. Bark smooth when young, eventually becoming rough and coarsely furrowed. Younger stems sparsely hairy, soon become hairless, brittle at the base and readily detatched. Each piece that breaks off is potentially able to form a new plant. Leaves alternating up the stems, 5.5–18.5 cm long, 15–45 mm wide, at first silky on both sides, dark green above, glaucous below, margins coarsely and irregularly glandular-toothed. tips gradually tapering to a point. Male and female flowers on different plants. Individual flowers often small, with 0 petals, in cylindrical catkins, appearing with the new leaves. Male flowers greenish-yellow, catkins 40-80 mm long, 7-13 mm wide. The much less common female flowers greenish, catkins 55-80 mm long, up to 110 mm long at the seeding stage, about 7 mm wide. Flowers spring.
Salix x fragilis var. fragilis in PlantNET.
Hybrids between Salix nigra and Salix x fragilis have been recorded from the tablelands.
A Weed of National Significance. General Biosecurity Duty with additional restrictions all NSW. Pest plant ACT. Noxious weed Vic.
PlantNET description (as Salix x fragilis var. fragilis): http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=in&name=Salix~x+fragilis+var.~fragilis (accessed 14 April 2021)
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