Goat willow

Synonyms: bredina, Hultén's willow, Salix bakko Kimura, Salix coaetanea Flod., Salix hultenii Flod.

Goat willow (Salix caprea L.) – a species of deciduous shrubs and trees of the genus Willow (Salix) in the family Salicaceae. It occurs in Europe (except the alpine belt and tundra), in the Caucasus, in Western and Central Asia. It is a typical forest species, often found in the second tier of mixed, broad-leaved, and less often coniferous forests (does not grow in fir and cedar forests). It prefers open places – forest edges, glades, clearings, and rides. Lives up to 30 years.

It appears as a tree 6-10 m tall, with a trunk diameter up to 75 cm, or as a tree-like shrub 5-7 m tall, with stems up to 20 cm in diameter. Grows fast, annual increment 40-60 cm. Crown ovoid-oval, with upward-pointing branches. Bark dull, gray-green, smooth, cracked near the base. Shoots dark green, reddish on the lighter side, later becoming brownish, thick. Young shoots grayish-pubescent. Wood smooth, without scars or ridges, reddens on exposure to air.

Buds appressed to the shoot, large, up to 5 mm long and up to 3 mm wide, very glabrous, brown. Flower buds ovoid, appressed to the shoot, large, 7-15 mm long and 3-6 mm wide, chestnut or reddish, not flattened, often with a hooked tip, glabrous.

Stipules bud-like, lobed, early deciduous, 4-7 mm long. Petioles up to 2 mm long, broadened at the base. Leaves alternate, from broadly ovate to ellipsoid, 8-15 cm long, 4-8 cm wide, slightly wrinkled, with a wavy-toothed or entire, often unevenly toothed margin, pubescent at unfolding, later glabrous, slightly glossy, dark green above, grayish and felted beneath. Lateral veins 6-9 pairs, forming rounded, wide loops near the leaf margin; the vein network is strongly raised, with large areoles.

Catkins dense, numerous, large, 30-40 mm long, axes hairy. Male catkins sessile, oblong-ovoid or broadly ovoid, up to 6 cm long. Female catkins on short stalks, dense, cylindrical, many-flowered, reaching 10 cm when fruiting, with 4-7 bracts at the base. Stamens 2, glabrous, twice as long as the calyx, with free filaments. Ovary ovoid-conical, on a long stalk, silky-woolly or whitish-hairy, with a short style. Flowers before leaf emergence, in April.

Fruits – sparsely hairy capsules, 7-8 mm long, stalk long, 2-3 mm. Seeds up to 1.5 mm long, 16-18 per capsule (8-9 in each valve). Fruits in May.

Forms:

• f. pendula Petz. et Kirchn. (weeping),
• f. elliptica Kern (elliptic leaves, pointed at both ends),
• f. orbiculata Kern (broadly ovate leaves, cordate at the base and acute at the tip),
• f. rotundata Anderss. (almost round leaves),
• f. obovato–oblonga Anderss. (obovate-oblong leaves).

Hybrids:

• with Salix aurita L. – Salix × capreola Kern. ex Andersson
• with Salix cinerea L. – Salix × reichardtii Kern.
• with Salix myrsinifolia Salisb. – Salix × meikleana D.J. Tennant
• with Salix phylicifolia L. – Salix × bicolor Sm.
• with Salix phylicifolia L. – Salix × meikleana D.J. Tennant
• with Salix schwerinii E.L. Wolf – Salix × vorobievii Korkina
• with Salix udensis Trautv. & C.A. Mey. – Salix × koidzumii Kimura
• with Salix viminalis L. – Salix × smithiana Willd.

Hardiness zone: 4a (-34.4°C)

Exposure: sun-loving, but relatively shade-tolerant. Tolerates urban conditions.

Soil: does not like heavily waterlogged, boggy soils. Prefers hydromorphic soils with through moisture. Well suited are sod-podzolic, humus-gley sandy, loamy, calcareous soils; less often found on non-turfed sands, on peat-silt-gley soils with hummocky relief.

Planting: Best planted in spring before budbreak. When establishing a "willow stand" (willow thicket) it is recommended to cultivate the soil in autumn to a depth of 30-80 cm, depending on fertility and dryness. The top organic layer should be turned downward. Recommended spacing between seedlings should be not less than 0.6–2 m. Planting depth – 40-70 cm. Transplanting is recommended up to 3-4 years. On heavy soils drainage of crushed stone or sand in a layer of 20-30 cm is recommended.

Pruning: tolerates cutting and pruning well. Regular removal of dead shoots and shaping of the trunk and crown is recommended.

Care: requires almost no maintenance.

Propagation: mainly propagated by seeds. Cuttings root poorly. Can propagate by suckers.

Pests: longhorn beetles, willow leaf beetle (Lochmaea caprea), Crepidodera aurata, larvae of Hymenoptera (Trichiosoma sibiricum), caterpillars of Lepidoptera (Acleris cristana, Teleiodes notatella, etc.).

Diseases: affected by fungal diseases – fungi of the genera Melampsora, Rhytisma, Erysiphe, Phytophthora ramorum.

Uses: a good early honey plant (honey golden-yellow). Tannin extract and black dye are obtained from the bark. Wood is used for making small wooden items and for pulp. Twigs are woven into coarse wickerware. Leaves are used as animal fodder and also to make a tea substitute. Widely used in traditional medicine. The root system stabilizes soil. Used in landscaping.