Narrative
Released because of the need for adapted woody planting stock that is of fairly short stature, resistant to diseases and insects, and able to produce numerous, small flexible branches for use in stream bank erosion control. Original planting stock collected from the Morton Arboretum, Lisle, Illinois. Planting stock was sent to Coffeeville, Mississippi in 1963 via National Plant Materials Center, Beltsville, Maryland. Large, upright, multi-branched shrub to 4 m. Branches glabrous, yellowish gray; branchlets slender, glabrous, very flexible, pale green and yellowish under the bark. Leaves opposite or alternate, linear to lanceolate, 5-10 cm long, 5-12 mm wide, faintly serrate, apex acuminate, base rounded or obtuse, pale pink and brown when young, glabrous bright green above and glaucous beneath when mature, with numerous lateral viens. Male catkins cylindrical, densely flowered, 2-3 cm long, sessile with hairy, obovate flower scales, staminal filaments connate, anthers purple at emergence becoming red, orange, and yellow progressively. Female catkins 2-3.5 cm long, subsessile, densely flowered, scales long-hairy, ovary sessile, densely pubescent, style and stigma short, bifid. Uses include stream bank erosion control, plant diversity in riparian buffer plantings, urban conservation as an ornamental shrub and as a source of plant material for making baskets. It can also provide food, cover, and nesting sites for wildlife. Appears to be resistant to canker diseases. Prefers moist soil areas with good fertility. Anticipated area of adaptation would be plant hardiness zones 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b.