BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Salix drummondiana | Drummond Willow 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
Drummond willow is a deciduous shrub generally between 6.5 and 13 feet
(2-4 m) tall, but occasionally up to 20 feet (6 m) tall [9,13].  Male
and female flowers occur on separate plants in erect, nearly sessile
catkins [9].  The fruit is a two-valved capsule.


RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Undisturbed State:  Phanerophyte (microphanerophyte)
   Undisturbed State:  Phanerophyte (nanophanerophyte)
   Burned or Clipped State:  Hemicryptophyte
   Burned or Clipped State:  Therophyte


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
Drummond willow's primary mode of reproduction is sexual.  It produces
an abundance of small, light-weight seeds.  Like most willows, it
probably begins seed production at an early age (between 2 and 10 years)
[18].  At maturity, the fruit splits open and releases the seed.  Each
seed has a cottony down that aids in dispersal by wind and water [8].
Seeds are dispersed during the growing season and remain viable for only
about 1 week [8].  The seeds contain significant amounts of chlorophyll
and photosynthesis generally begins as soon as the seed is moistened.
Germination occurs within 24 hours of dispersal if a moist seedbed is
reached [8].  Exposed mineral soils are the best seedbed [18].
Germination and/or seedling establishment is inhibited by litter [18].

Vegetative reproduction:  Drummond willow sprouts from the root crown or
stem base if aboveground stems are broken or destroyed by cutting,
flooding, or fire [18].  Detached stem fragments will root if they are
buried in moist soil [18].  This occurs when stem fragments are
transported by floodwaters and deposited on fresh alluvium [3,18].


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
Drummond willow occurs along the borders of streams, rivers, beaver
ponds, and lakes, and in wet meadows and marshes [6,9].  It grows at
moderate elevations from lower forested and nonforested foothills to
subalpine habitats.  It is generally most abundant in subalpine fir
(Abies lasiocarpa)-Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii) habitat types
[6,9].  In these cool habitats, it is not restricted to steamsides, but
occupies moist, well-aerated soils of meadows, broad valley bottoms,
side slope seeps, and stream and pond margins [6,9,25].  At lower
elevations it is uncommon, and usually confined to the edges of streams
in sagebrush (Artemisia spp.), Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), or
ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) vegetation zones [6,9].  In a valley in
northwestern Yellowstone National Park dominated by silver sagebrush
(Artemisia cana), Drummond willow is primarily found within 65 feet (20
m) of the river's edge [30].


Soils:  Drummond willow typically grows on moist, well-aerated mineral
soils [19].  Textures vary greatly from cobbles and gravels immediately
adjacent to waterways to sandy or clay loams in broad valleys [19].  It
often occurs on fine-textured soils of sediment-filled beaver ponds
[44].  Shallow organic soils overlying alluvium may develop on wet,
marshy, sedge-dominated sites [44].  Water tables vary from near the
surface to about 39 inches (1 m) [19,44].

Elevation:  Drummond willow grows at moderate elevations in the
mountains.  Elevational ranges for the following western states are
presented below:  

  from 8,400 to 9,500 feet (2,560-2,896 m) in California [28]
  from 4,000 to 7,100 feet (1,220-2,165 m) in nw Montana [6]
  from 7,000 to 10,790 feet (2,135-3,290 m) in Utah [43]
  from 6,000 to 10,000 feet (1,829-3,049 m) in Wyoming [2,44]

Associates:  Associated shrubs include Booth willow, Barclay willow
(Salix barclayi), planeleaf willow (S. planifolia ssp. planifolia),
Geyer willow (S. geyeriana), mountain willow (S. monticola), Wolf willow
(S. wolfii), mountain gooseberry (Ribes montigenum), whitestem currant
(Ribes inerme), bearberry honeysuckle (Lonicera involucrata), thinleaf
alder (Alnus incana ssp. tenuifolia), red-osier dogwood (Cornus
sericea), alder buckthorn (Rhamnus alnifolia), and marsh cinquefoil
(Potentilla palustris) [4,6,9].  Understory associates include bluejoint
reedgrass (Calamagrostis canadensis), beaked sedge (Carex rostrata),
water sedge (C. aquatilis), tufted hairgrass (Deschampsia cespitosa),
Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis), field mint (Mentha arvensis), and
arrowleaf groundsel (Senecio triangularis) [6,9,23,29].


SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
Drummond willow tends to form relatively stable, long-lived seral
communities that are maintained by seasonal flooding or high water
tables.  However, these sites experience successional shifts if water
tables change.  If sites become wetter, sedges may replace Drummond
willow.  If they become drier, Drummond willow may be replaced by upland
shrubs or conifers [18,44].

In northwestern Montana, high-elevation thinleaf and Sitka alder (Alnus
sinuata) are seral to Drummond willow [6].


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
Drummond willow generally begins flowering in May [12,28].  

Related categories for Species: Salix drummondiana | Drummond Willow