Salix reticulata L.
Net-vein willow.
Salicaceae, willow family.
Sp. Pl. 2: 1018. 1753.
Salix orbicularis Anderss.
Salix reticulata subsp.
orbicularis (Anderss.) Flod.
Salix reticulata var.
gigantifolia Ball
Salix reticulata var. glabra Trautv.
Salix reticulata var. orbicularis (Anderss.) Komarov
Salix reticulata var. semicalva Fernald
Vegetative morphology. Plants shrubs; dwarf shrubs; 3–15 cm high; forming colonies by layering. Aerial stems prostrate. Branches yellow-brown, or red-brown; not glaucous, or thinly glaucous (sometimes); glabrous; epidermis not flaky. Branchlets yellow-brown, or red-brown; not glaucous, or thinly glaucous (sometimes); glabrous. Bud scale inner membrane fused to outer layer. Stipules present; scale-like. Petioles (3–)10–25(–46) mm long; glandular dots at the base of the leaf present, or glandular dots at the base of the leaf absent; deeply concave in cross-section, but margins not covering the groove, or deeply concave in cross-section, margins covering groove; glabrous. Leaf blade bases obtuse, or attenuate, or cordate. Juvenile leaves yellowish green; glabrous. Blades 12–66 mm long; 8–50 mm wide. Blades length-width ratio 1–1.5. Blades herbaceous, or leathery; oblong (to broadly oblong), or elliptic (broadly elliptic to subcircular), or circular; revolute. Blades secondary veins impressed into adaxial surface, protruding on abaxial surface; mostly arising at or close to a single point at base and running in recurved arches toward leaf apex. Blades adaxial surface shiny, or highly glossy; glabrous (rarely sparsely villous). Blades abaxial surface glaucous; glabrous, or hairy, or glabrescent. Blades abaxial surface hairs sparse. Blades abaxial surface hairs long-silky. Blades abaxial surface hairs white, or translucent hairs; straight; appressed. Blade margins entire and glandular-dotted, or crenate (crenulate); with submarginal glands; with teeth all around the blade, or toward the base; with teeth per cm 2–9 (6). Blade margins with glandular hairs all around leaf, or toward base only. Leaf apices rounded, or retuse (rarely retuse).
Reproductive morphology. Plants dioecious. Flowering stems present. Inflorescence a catkin. Catkins flowering with the opening of leaf buds; catkins terminal on previous year’s shoot. Male catkins moderately densely flowered (more than 12 flowers per ament); 6–52 mm long; 4–7 mm wide; stout, or subglobose, or slender; peduncles 4–26 mm long; borne on a flowering branchlet; flowering branchlets 2–32 mm long. Female catkins densely flowered (more than 6 flowers per ament); 6–60 mm long; 3–8 mm wide; slender, or stout; peduncles 5–31 mm long; borne on a flowering branchlet; flowering branchlets 2–45 mm long. Floral bracts tawny; widest at middle, or widest toward tip; 0.8–1.8 mm long; glabrous (rarely hairy at prox end). Floral bracts entire. Perianth absent. Flowers unisexual. Stamens 2; filaments hairy for the full length, or hairy on lower half. Anthers purple becoming yellow; ellipsoid, or subglobose; axis straight; 0.3–0.4 mm long. Male flowers abaxial nectaries one; adaxial nectaries two, or several; adaxial nectaries ovate, or broad-rod, or half-cup-shaped; adaxial nectaries 0.5–0.8 mm long; adaxial nectaries partially connected at base, or cup-shaped. Female flowers adaxial nectaries absent, or one, or two; two or more lobes; slender-rod; 0.5–0.8 mm long; equal to stipes, or longer than stipes; nectaries separate, or partially connected. Stipes 0–0.8 mm long. Ovaries inverse club-shaped, or pear-shaped; ovary slightly bulged at the base of the style, or abruptly tapering to style; hairy; hairs short-silky. Ovary hairs moderately dense, or dense; white, or translucent, or a mixture of white, or translucent, and rust-coloured; appressed, or spreading; straight, or wavy; flattened. Styles 0.2–0.3 mm long. Stigmas broad-cylindrical; lobes 0.2–0.26–0.32 mm long. Ovules 8–18. Fruit a capsule. Fruit 4.5–5 mm long; glabrescent (sparsely).
Chromosome information. 2n = 38. 38 (2x). - Marklund in Holmberg (1931 northern Europe); Sokolovskaya and Strelkova (1941 northern Russia, 1960); Löve (1954b Iceland); Hedberg (1967 northern Canada, 2n = c.38); Zhukova (1967 north eastern Asia, 1980 southern Chukota); Johnson and Packer (1968 northwestern Alaska); Suda and Argus (1969 Alaska, 2n = 37); Engelskjøn and Knaben (1971 southern and northern Norway); Packer and McPherson (1974 northern Alaska); Zhukova Petrovsky (1976, 1977 north eastern Asia); Zhukova et al. (1977 northe eastern Asia); Engelskjøn (1979 Norway); Löve and Löve (1982 arctic Canada); Petrovsky and Zhukova (1983b north eastern Asia). Several more southern counts. Ploidy levels recorded 2x.
Distribution. Northern hemisphere distribution: Greenland, Canada, United States, Eurasia (circumpolar). Arctic Islands: Baffin, Devon, Banks, Victoria, Somerset, King William, Southampton, Coats (Nottingham, Prince Charles, Salisbury Islands, Boothia and Melville Peninsulas).
Ecology and habitat. Habitats: A dwarf shrub forming mats in moist tundra on gravel and sand beaches, stream banks, colluvial slopes, edges of frost polygons, and snowbeds. Usually in places well protected by winter snow cover. Often but not exclusively on calcareous substrates.
Indigenous knowledge. Inuit name quarait. The leaves taste
delicious when eaten raw. They need to be chopped or chewed to remove teh
itsi, the juice. They could be boiled in water to make a brew for an
upset stomach. They could be mixed with paunnat, dwarf fireweed. They can
be used as bandaids and are also delicious to drink as tea (Ootoova et al.
2001).
There are tiny white worms that grow in the base of the catkins and
these were eaten along with the plant.
Notes. Salix reticulata is a dwarf species with stems that
trail on the surface or in moss; leaves that are usually broad to
circular-elliptic, with an adaxial surface that is prominently reticulate with
impressed venation; its catkins are borne on flowering branchlets that are
indistinguishable from normal vegetative branchlets, some plants have almost all
branchlets ending in a catkin.
The leaves of this species often bear red
insect galls. They are composed of plant tissue developed by the plant in an
attempt ot wall off an intruding insect.
When the leaves of this species
emergy in the speing, they are covered with fine white hairs. These interrupt
the flow of cold air across the surfaceof the leaf yet permit sunlight to enter,
creating a miniature greenhouse in which the sun can raise the temperature of
the surgace of the plant several degrees above the surrounding temperature
(Savile, 1972. This allows the leaf to begin photosynthesising under solder
conditions. The hairs fall off within a few days (Burt, 2000).
Illustrations. • Habitat 2. Salix reticulata subsp. reticulata: a female plant forming a prostrate mat. The leaf surface is prominently impressed-reticulate above. Almost all vegetative shoots end in a catkin. Photo taken at Victoria Island, Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, by Lynn Gillespie, July 1997. Voucher specimen: Laurie Consaul and Lynn Gillespie 1106, CAN. • Habitat - 1. Salix reticulata subsp. reticulata: habit, scale bar in cm. Photo taken at Iqaluit, Baffin Island, Nunavut, Aug. 1997. Voucher specimen: Aiken and Cheryl McJannet 97015, CAN. • Male catkins in flower. Male plants with ctakins in various stages of flowering. Nunavut, Baffin Island, Soper River Valley, Cascade Creek. Aiken and Ilses, July 2002. No voucher. Scale bar in cm. • Male catkin -early flowering. Male catkin with male flowers open and anthers s hedding pollen, upper flowers in bud the bright red tips of anthers showing. Aiken and Ilses, July 2002. No voucher. • Male catkin - older. Male catkin in which the lower flowers have shed their pollen the middle flowers are at anthesis, and the upper flowers are in bud. Aiken and Ilses, July 2002. No voucher. • Male plant. Salix reticulata subsp. reticulata: male plant forming a mat. The leaves are prominently reticulate above. Photo taken by Donald Gunn; slide number: S84–5380, Photo Library, Canadian Museum of Nature. • Habitat. Salix reticulata subsp. reticulata: plants forming mats on stone stripes in alpine area. Photograph taken at Robb Lake, British Columbia, 1 Aug. 1977. • Habitat. Salix reticulata subsp. reticulata: habitat. Photo taken at Cambridge Bay, Victoria Island, Nunavut, by Lynn Gillespie, July 1997. Voucher specimen: Laurie Consaul and Lynn Gillespie 1106, CAN. • Habitat. Salix reticulata: Photo taken at Nunavut, Baffin Island, Iqaluit, Aiken 97–015. • Leaf close-up. Salix reticulata subsp. reticulata: Leaf close-up. Photo taken at Cambridge Bay, Victoria Island, Nunavut, by Lynn Gillespie, July 1997. Voucher specimen: Laurie Consaul and Lynn Gillespie 1106, CAN. • Line drawing. Salix reticulata subsp. reticulata: A. Male catkins are borne on leafy, flowering branchlets. B. Male flowers have 2 stamens, hairy filaments, a glabrous floral bract and two floral nectaries (adaxial and abaxial) which form a cup at the base of the stamens. C. Female catkins are borne on leafy flowering branchlets. They have a long peduncle. D. Female flowers have a short, silky ovary, a short style, and a cup-like nectary surrounding the base of the ovary. • Arctic Island Distribution.
Cite this publication as: ‘S.G. Aiken, M.J. Dallwitz, L.L. Consaul, C.L. McJannet, L.J. Gillespie, R.L. Boles, G.W. Argus, J.M. Gillett, P.J. Scott, R. Elven, M.C. LeBlanc, A.K. Brysting and H. Solstad. 1999 onwards. Flora of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago: Descriptions, Illustrations, Identification, and Information Retrieval. Version: 29th April 2003. http://www.mun.ca/biology/delta/arcticf/’. Dallwitz (1980) and Dallwitz, Paine and Zurcher (1993, 1995, 2000) should also be cited (see References).
