Arctic willow
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Salix arctica
Arctic Willow foliage and male catkins
Conservation status
Secure
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Malpighiales Family: Salicaceae Genus: Salix Species: S. arctica
Binomial name
Salix arctica Pall.

Salix arctica (Arctic Willow) is a tiny creeping willow (family Salicaceae). It is adapted to survive in harsh Arctic and subarctic environments, and has a circumpolar distribution round the Arctic Ocean. It grows in tundra and rocky moorland, and is the northernmost woody plant in the world, occurring far above the tree line up to the northern limit of land on the north coast of Greenland. It also occurs further south in North America on high altitude Alpine tundra south to the Sierra Nevada in California and the Rocky Mountains in New Mexico, and in Asia to Xinjiang in China.¹²³

It is typically a low shrub growing to only 1–15 cm (0.39–5.9 in) in height (rarely to 25 cm (9.8 in) high), however in the Pacific Northwest it may reach 50 cm (20 in) in height,⁴ and has round, shiny green leaves 1–4 cm (0.39–1.6 in) long and broad, rarely up to 8 centimetres (3.1 in) long and 6 cm (2.4 in) broad; they are pubescent, with long silky, silvery hairs. Like the rest of the willows, Arctic Willow is dioecious, with male and female catkins on separate plants. As a result the plant's appearance varies; the female catkins are red-coloured, while the male catkins are yellow-coloured.²⁵

Despite its small size, it is a long-lived plant, growing extremely slowly in the severe Arctic climate; one in eastern Greenland was found to be 236 years old.²

Hybrids with Salix arcticola and Salix glauca are known.²

Uses

The Arctic Willow is an food source for several Arctic animals. Muskox, caribou, Arctic Hare and lemmings all feed on the bark and twigs while the buds are the main food sorce of the ptarmigan.

Both the Inuit and the Gwich’in make use of the Arctic Willow. Twigs would be used as fuel, while the decayed flowers (Suputiit) could be mixed with moss and used as wicking in the kudlik. The plant was used for several medicinal purposes, such as relieving toothache, helping to stop bleeding, curing diarrhoea and indigestion and used as poultice on wounds. Both the Gwich’in and Inuit, in the Bathurst Inlet area were known to eat parts of the Arctic Willow which is high in vitamin C and tastes sweet.⁶

References