Willow, Salix spp.
Iowa has six native willow species — Missouri, Pussy, Shiny, Peach Leaf, Black, and Sandbar.
Willow leaves are all similar – alternate and simple, long and thin. I look for leaves because their silhouettes are all varied — bushes, sticks growing out of a sand bar, large trees – both weeping and upright (see photos).
Willows are great pollen sources in early spring. The leaves turn yellow in the fall.
