Athabasca Willow

About Athabasca Willow in Alberta

Athabasca willow is a native Alberta willow of northern peatland and fen systems, best understood as a small specialized wetland shrub rather than as a widespread common willow. For Ancient Roots Alberta, it matters primarily through ecological rarity, intact fen habitat, and the conservation value of gypsum-influenced and other northern wetland communities where this species persists.

Identification: Leaves are narrowly elliptic to elliptic or narrowly obovate, usually small and fine-textured, with mature blades about 1.7-5 cm long and 0.8-1.8 cm wide. Margins are glandular-serrulate and may be flat or slightly revolute. Young foliage is usually villous or sericeous with mixed white and ferruginous hairs, while mature upper surfaces become glossier and more glabrescent with a glaucous lower surface.

Alberta range and habitat: Athabasca willow is native to Alberta and should be treated primarily as a northern wild wetland shrub. The strongest Alberta-specific evidence anchors it in the Wood Buffalo area, especially in fen systems rather than in broad riparian or upland landscapes.