Dwarf willow: what is characteristic and where it grows?

Botany has long been known that some trees have many forms of growth, including shrubs and even miniature species. One such species is the pygmy willow.

More precisely, this name is not a species, but many varieties of an amazing tree, which we'll talk about today.

Most of them grow beyond the Arctic Circle and in high-mountain conditions. In the Alps, a dwarf willow was found at an altitude of 3.2 km. This tree is found even on the islands of the Spitsbergen archipelago.

In the US it grows up to Labrador. All the willows of this family are distinguished by their attachment to wet places: they prefer to grow along the coasts, sometimes even in those places on which the surf regularly rolls.

Virtually all of their representatives are so beautiful that they immediately won recognition among landscape designers. In particular, they are recommended to be used for landscaping of alpine hills and stony areas.

Dwarf willow perfectly withstands freezing and a long stay under the snow due to the fact that its small stems close to the ground.

Buds of oval form up to 6 mm long are tightly pressed against shoots. On one shoot, no more than 3-4 leaves develop. No stipules.

Leaves in most species are distinguished by their widely elliptical shape, their apex is round or with a small notch, their length rarely exceeds 25-27 mm.

In addition, young leaves are distinguished by the presence of "fluff" on both sides, whereas on grown specimens it is retained only along the leaves cuttings.

Despite the love of good hydration, the dwarf willow is very common on stony slopes, often grows on the very edge of rock fractures, especially preferring limestone rocks. It is not hard to tolerate acidification (and salinity, as we have already said) soils. Drops to the ground shoots instantly take root.

In species that grow in different climatic zones, there are serious differences in the vegetation process. In mid-April, buds are opening in pygmy willows in the Alps, and by the beginning of May, other varieties begin to vegetate.

Despite the external similarity, these plants differ greatly in the degree of pubescence of the leaves and young shoots, as well as in the size of the trunk itself. So, S. reticulata, growing in the Northern Urals, is characterized by fairly long shoots, reaching 25 cm, and dark green leathery leaves.

To the Khibiny plants is a willow globular dwarf, whose shoots do not reach a significant value. Alpine varieties are even more miniature. They keep fluff on the bottom of the sheet for a long time.

All these shrubs grow very poorly, so for rooting it is better to use only young shoots, since the stiff ones do not practically take root. The plants from the Northern Urals grow best and take root. So, in three years they have reached the same value as the Khibi copies for 11 years.

Regardless of the species, the dwarf willow (photo of which is in the article) is extremely resistant to pests, frosts and lack of nutrients in the soil.