Salix alba

The silver willow (Salix alba) is a species in the genus of the willow (Salix). The name refers to the silvery appearing narrow-lanceolate leaves cover. She is one of the few tree-like willow tree and was the year 1999.

The silver-grazing can be used as a deciduous tree reaching up to 35 meters in height, it grows only exceptionally bushy. Younger trees have a conical-pointed crown, the crown of older trees has, however informal. The trunk can reach a diameter of up to one meter, which is characterized in older trees by a grayish, deeply furrowed bark. The bark is dark gray with thick, close together strips. The ramifications are acute. Young branches are yellow to (red), brown, short hair-fitting and flexible. Older branches verkahlen. The summer leaves are 5-12 centimeters long. They are narrow-lanceolate, with the largest width in the middle and narrowed on both sides evenly. The leaf margins are finely serrated glandular, the glands sit on the tooth tips. The hair on the upper side of leaves is thin and silky, abaxially densely and longitudinally aligned. This bright and the leaves look silvery led to the German, botanical epithet. The petiole length reaches 5 mm.

The dioecious flowers appear after the leaves sprouting from April to May The male flowers are yellow, green, and later the female woolly-white. The kittens will be up to 7 centimeters long and are cylindrical. The stamens are hairy at the base. The ovaries are bare, sitting or shortly stalked. The bracts are extended color yellow and long. The base and the edge are short-haired, bald in the front part. It is only an outer bud scale exist, an inner bud scale and a "pseudo-scale missing" (as opposed to Salix × rubens). The seeds mature from June to July and wear long, white hair, which serve as a flight aid.


Source: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silber-Weide
See Also: sending flowers, online florist