Little Tree Willow

About Little Tree Willow in Alberta

Little tree willow is a native northern Alberta willow, usually a tall shrub and sometimes a small tree, tied to boreal floodplains, streambanks, muskeg edges, open woodlands, and disturbed moist mineral-soil sites. For Ancient Roots Alberta, it matters less as a planted landscape species than as a wild northern browse and recovery willow whose presence can reflect intact boreal corridors, early-seral habitat, and native regeneration after disturbance.

Identification: Leaves are green and hairless above, white and finely hairy beneath, and usually about 2.5-7.5 cm long. The overall effect is a clean greener upper surface with a paler undersurface, but without the very heavy woolliness of Feltleaf Willow.

Alberta range and habitat: Little tree willow is native in Alberta and should be treated primarily as a wild northern boreal species. The dossier supports strongest occurrence in northern Alberta rather than in southern settled landscapes.