Salix breweri

Brewer's willow

Family: Salicaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Brewer's willow is a California native shrub found in the northern Coast Ranges, San Francisco Bay Area, and northern and central South Coast Ranges in serpentine streamsides at elevations of 300 to 1,300 meters. Flowering from March to April, this plant produces yellow to light rose flowers on leafy shoots before the leaves emerge. Growing to less than 4 meters tall with yellow to yellow-brown twigs covered in velvety or silky tomentose hairs, it develops a distinctive growth habit. Its leaves are strap-shaped to oblanceolate, 58 to 144 millimeters long, with a convex or wedge-shaped base and slightly rolled edges, covered in wavy hairs on the underside. The shrub's later stipules become leaf-like, adding to its complex and textured appearance.

Habitat: Serpentine streamsides

Bloom period: Mar-Apr

Elevation: 300-1300 m

Bioregions: NCoR, SnFrB, n&ampc SCoR.

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.