Salix exigua

Narrow leaved willow

Family: Salicaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Narrow leaved willow is a California native shrub found in riparian and wetland habitats throughout western North American mountain and valley regions at elevations ranging from low to mid-elevation zones. Flowering in spring, this plant produces small yellowish catkins with delicate, narrow flowers. Growing as a clonal shrub up to 5 meters tall with yellow to red-brown twigs, it spreads extensively through root-shoots. Its leaves are distinctive, featuring long linear blades 30 to 147 millimeters in length, with wedge-shaped bases and slightly serrated edges. The plant forms dense thickets in moist environments, with flexible stems and narrow, strap-shaped leaves that provide important habitat and erosion control in stream and riverine ecosystems.

California counties: Kern, Inyo, Ventura, Sacramento, Riverside, San Bernardino, Modoc, San Diego, Los Angeles, Lassen, Santa Barbara, Orange, Siskiyou, Butte, Placer, San Joaquin, San Luis Obispo, Mono, Lake, Imperial, Napa, Mendocino, Tulare, Fresno, Tehama, Humboldt, Alameda, Nevada, Sonoma, Tuolumne, Merced, Plumas, Monterey, El Dorado, San Benito, Yolo, Marin, Contra Costa, Stanislaus, Del Norte, Sutter, Madera, San Mateo, Trinity, Santa Clara, Solano, Mariposa, Alpine, Calaveras, Santa Cruz, Sierra, Kings, Colusa, Glenn, Yuba, San Francisco, Shasta

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