Korean Willow
Salix koreensis · Salicaceae · 버드나무
How to spot it
Compared with the weeping willow, the small branches stand upright and break easily at the base.
Look
- Leaves
- Leaves are narrowly lanceolate to lanceolate, 5 to 12 cm long, green above and whitish below, with small inward-curving teeth on the margin.
- Flowers
- Flowers open in April before the leaves. Male catkins have two nectar glands and two stamens each, and female catkins are densely flowered.
- Fruit
- The fruit is an egg-shaped capsule that ripens in May.
- Bark
- Dark brown bark with shallow cracks; one-year-old twigs hang down and are yellowish green.
Where it grows
- In Korea
- Native (Korean Peninsula)
- Native to
- Grows in mountains and fields across Korea at 50 to 1,300 m elevation, and also found in Japan and China.
- Ecology
- Grows along rivers and in open fields. Strongly cold-hardy, it can be seen anywhere in Korea; it grows well in wetlands, and is an indicator plant of water sources, yet also grows well in dry places.