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Article from New Trees by John Grimshaw & Ross Bayton
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'Salix humboldtiana' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.
Tree to 18 m, 0.2–0.8 m dbh; of upright, almost fastigiate habit, but when in leaf the crown becomes pendulous. Bark greyish, thick and deeply furrowed. Branchlets slender, ribbed and grey. Leaves deciduous, 3–10(–15) × 0.5–1.5 cm, linear-lanceolate, vivid green to silver and glabrous on both surfaces, lateral veins indistinct, margins serrate, apex acuminate; petiole 0.1–0.15 cm long, slightly pubescent; stipules absent, or small and caducous. Inflorescences coetaneous, pendulous, borne on leafy axillary branchlets 5–7 cm long. Staminate catkins 3–10 0.6–1 cm, bracts tawny, stamens five to eight per flower. Pistillate catkins shorter. Capsule brown, 0.4–0.5 cm long. Flowering September to November, fruiting October to December (Chile). Rodríguez R. et al. 1983, Newsholme 1992. Distribution ARGENTINA; BOLIVIA; BRAZIL; CHILE; COLOMBIA; COSTA RICA; ECUADOR; EL SALVADOR; GUATEMALA; HONDURAS; MEXICO; NICARAGUA; PANAMA; PERU. Naturalised across the Caribbean and in Australia. Habitat Wetlands by rivers, lakes and estuaries, between 0 and 600 m asl. USDA Hardiness Zone 9–10. Conservation status Not evaluated. Illustration Rodríguez R. et al. 1983; NT769. Taxonomic note Newsholme (1992) maintains S. chilensis as distinct from S. humboldtiana, though he suggests that it may be a hybrid, with S. humboldtiana and the European S. alba (introduced into Argentina in the early-twentieth century) as the parents.
Salix humboldtiana is bluntly described by Newsholme (1992) as ‘rather coarse, without any special ornamental quality’, and he says that it is very susceptible to frost. It is regarded as an invasive weed in Australia and in parts of the Caribbean (Global Compendium of Weeds 2007). With all this encouragement it is improbable that it would be widely planted even if material became available. It is however well established at Benmore, from a collection made in Chile (Región X) in 1997 by M. Gardner and A. Newton (no. 46). The denigrated Australian weed is apparently principally a fastigiate male clone, ‘Pyramidalis’, spreading vegetatively (Weeds Australia 2008).