Salix jepsonii

Jepson's willow

Family: Salicaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Jepson's willow is a California native shrub found in the Klamath Ranges, high Cascade Range, and Sierra Nevada in wet mountain habitats near lakes, streams, and meadows at elevations of 1,000 to 3,400 meters. Flowering in June, this willow produces delicate flowers on leafy shoots with distinctive gray or red-brown twigs. Growing as a shrub one to three meters tall with brittle branches, it develops velvety or silky stems that provide a soft textural appearance. Its leaves are oblanceolate, measuring 55 to 103 millimeters long, with densely short-silky undersides and entire margins that rarely show minute serrations. The shrub's unique silky foliage and slender form make it a characteristic component of high-elevation mountain wetland ecosystems.

Habitat: Margins of lakes and streams, wet meadows

Bloom period: Jun

Elevation: 1000-3400 m

Bioregions: KR, CaRH, SNH

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