serissima

Although this is reported to occur in Vermont, it hasn’t been found here in the wild for many years. So now it is here—out of state friends graciously shared cuttings with us and it turns out that what have flowered are female. We hoped for both so we could establish a colony on our property! We do have the male selection now and seeds are produced yearly now.

This shrub can grow to 12ft and has branchlets that are green at first, turn olive-brown, then reddish in late summer-early fall. Leaves are large shiny, rich green with serrated edges and short-pointed (not long pointed as fellow native S. lucida). At the base of each leaf where it meets the petiole glands are situated. At the base of the leaf where it meets the stem stipules may be present or absent. Catkins appear with the leaves in spring and the fertilized females remain green and do not open until autumn—hence it’s colloquial name. The amazing thing about this is that willow seed is normally very short-lived (3-4 days at best), however the seedlings of serrissima don’t germinate until Spring. This habit has caused some confusion as it was thought by some to be a fall flowering Willow! Flower buds appear in late summer, green at first, they gradually turn red; they are flattened at the pointed tip. Female catkins are 1–2in long and although we have not seen a male flower, they are about the same size.