Salix melanopsis

Dusky willow

Family: Salicaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Dusky willow is a California native shrub found in the North Coast, Klamath Ranges, California Relief, Sierra Nevada, Sacramento Valley, and Modoc Plateau in streambank habitats, often growing among rocks at elevations of 620 to 2,700 meters. Flowering from May to July, this plant produces delicate, small catkins with silky white to gray flowers. Growing as a clonal shrub up to 4 meters tall with gray-brown twigs that become smooth with age, it spreads by root-shoots with distinctive flexible branches. Its leaves are long and narrow, measuring 30 to 85 millimeters, linear to narrow-elliptic with wavy, soft hairs and occasionally finely serrated edges. The shrub's young leaves are notably long-soft-wavy-hairy, giving the plant a distinctive soft, textured appearance in riparian environments.

Habitat: Streambanks, often among rocks

Bloom period: May-Jul

Elevation: 620-2700 m

Bioregions: NCo, KR, CaR, SN (exc Teh), ScV, MP

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

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