Salix lasiolepis

Arroyo willow

Family: Salicaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Arroyo willow is a native shrub found in California's diverse habitats, including shores, marshes, meadows, and springs at elevations up to 2,800 meters. Flowering from January to June, this plant produces small, delicate catkins with yellow-green to yellow-brown twigs. Growing as a multi-stemmed shrub or small tree up to 10 meters tall, it has flexible branches that are notably brittle at the base. Its leaves are distinctive, with strap-shaped to elliptic blades 35 to 125 millimeters long, covered in white or white and rusty soft hairs, and ranging from entire to irregularly serrate. The shrub's mature leaves often curl slightly under, creating a unique textural appearance in riparian landscapes.

Habitat: Abundant. Shores, marshes, meadows, springs, bluffs

Bloom period: Jan-Jun

Elevation: < 2800 m

Bioregions: CA

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

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