Salix alba L.

 
  • Family : SALICACEAE
    (Willow Family)
  • Family (Hindi name) : BAN PEEPAL FAMILY (बन पीपल फैमिली)
  • Family (as per The APG System IV) : Salicaceae
  • Synonym(s) : Argorips alba (L.) Raf.; Salix pallida Salisb.
  • Species Name (as per The IPNI) : Salix alba L.
  • Habit : Tree
  • Key identification features : Deciduous tree, up to 30m high, branches ascending at a fairly steep angle, pendulous at the tips; Bark shallowly fissured; Young twigs grey with silky down, gradually becoming glabrous, brown; Leaves lanceolate, margin very finely toothed, tapering at both ends, 1½–3½ in. long, ¼–⅝ in. wide, lower surface permanently covered with silky down, supper surface less silky, petiole ⅛–½ in. long; Inflorescence catkins, produced on short leafy, laterals, dense, cylindric, more or less erect, about 1½ in. long, scales yellowish, deciduous, downy at base and margins, axis downy; Male flowers: stamens 3, rarely 3, filaments united at the base, hairy below, nectaries 2; Female flowers: single nectary present, ovary glabrous, almost sessile, style short, stigmas two-lobed or slightly notched.
  • Flower, Fruit : April-May
  • Distribution :
    • Uttarakhand : Uttarakhand
    • Himachal Pradesh : Himachal Pradesh
    • Ladakh : Ladakh
    • Punjab : Punjab
    • Jammu and Kashmir : Baramulla district
  • Native : Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Altay, Austria, Baltic States, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Central European Russia, China, Corse, Cyprus, Czechia-Slovakia, East Aegean Islands, East European Russia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Inner Mongolia, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kriti, Krym, Lebanon-Syria, Morocco, Netherlands, North Caucasus, NW. Balkan Pen., Palestine, Poland, Portugal, Qinghai, Romania, Sardegna, Sicilia, South European Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Tibet, Transcaucasus, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Türkiye, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, West Siberia, Xinjiang
  • Exotic/Native : Exotic
  • World Distribution : Europe to N. China, NW. Africa
  • Literature :
    • Dash, S. S., & Mao, A. A. (Eds.). (2018). Flowering Plants of India: An Annotated Checklist-Dicotyledons Volume II. Director, Botanical Survey of India.
    • Khuroo, Anzar Ahmad
    • Mugal, Muzamil Ahmad
    • Wani, Sajad Ahmad (2023). ToI, Ver.-I : Trees of India, Version-I. figshare. Dataset. https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.23226281.v1
  • Read more :
  • Permalink : https://indiatrees-ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Salix alba
  • Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Deepak Kumar (2026). India Trees and Vegetation Types. Salix alba. Downloaded on 3 October 2026.

Distribution District wise

India Distribution

World Distribution
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