Salix exigua var. hindsiana

Hinds' willow, Hinds' Willow

Family: Salicaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Hinds' willow is a California native shrub found in northwestern, Great Valley, central western, and southwestern California on floodplains and sandy gravel at elevations below 640 meters. Flowering from April to May, this plant produces delicate, soft catkins with silky hairs. Growing with flexible stems that spread in dense thickets near water sources, it forms low to medium-height shrub clusters. Its leaves have soft, long hairs on the undersides, with petioles covered in fine, wavy hairs that give the foliage a silky, delicate appearance. The slender fruit capsules develop 3 to 4.5 millimeters long, typical of willow species in riparian environments.

Habitat: Common. Floodplains, sandy gravel

Bloom period: Apr-May

Elevation: < 640 m

Bioregions: NW, GV, CW, SW

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

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