Arctic Willow

About Arctic Willow in Alberta

Arctic Willow is a native Alberta dwarf willow of alpine and treeless high-elevation ground, not a tree in the usual Alberta sense. It forms tiny low woody mats or trailing stems on exposed mountain terrain, where it may persist for extraordinary lengths of time despite its small size. For Ancient Roots Alberta purposes, it matters as an alpine persistence species: a willow of fragile high-elevation habitats, ecological rarity, and age potential rather than urban or planted heritage.

Identification: Leaves are small, compact, and often thick-looking, usually narrowly to broadly elliptic, circular, oblanceolate, obovate, or broadly obovate. Margins are usually entire and may be slightly revolute or flat. The lower surface may be hairy, and the tip can show a silky beard. Compared with taller willows, the leaves look miniature and compact.

Alberta range and habitat: Arctic Willow is native to Alberta and is best understood as an alpine and upper subalpine mountain species. In Alberta, it belongs to treeless high-elevation wildland settings rather than to lowland willow habitat.