Eared () Eared willow is a large, multi-branched woody and a pioneer species, commonly occurring in wet sites in the Caledonian Forest.

Worldwide distribution Eared willow is Eared willow is native to Europe, and is distributed over , so it is leafless in much of the continent, from Scandinavia to Spain, and from winter, with the new the UK to Russia. It is most common in central and northern appearing in April or early regions, but is also found in Albania, Bulgaria and the island of Corsica, May. The leaves are grey-green in colour, and are although it is absent from Italy and Greece. It has been introduced to the wrinkled, or rugose, in texture. They are slightly state of Pennsylvania in the USA. hairy, or pubescent, especially on the underside. The shape of the leaves is elliptic or lanceolate, Distribution in Scotland meaning lance-like, and the widest point is closer to the Eared willow occurs throughout Scotland, including the Western Isles tip than the base of the . The leaves measure up to 4 or occasionally and Orkney, and it is one of the few that grow as far north as 6 cm in length and 3 or sometimes 4 cm in width. The most distinctive North Voe on the mainland of Shetland. Because it prefers moist sites feature is the ‘ears’ or stipules which give the species its common name. and slightly acid These are small leafy appendages that are somewhat ear-like in shape, soils, it is more and grow on each side of the leaf stem, near the base of, but separate common in the from, the leaf itself. The leaves turn yellow in October before being shed north and west of for the winter. the country and Like the other members of the genus Salix, eared willow is dioecious, occurs especially meaning that individual trees are either male or female (in contrast to in damp woods, most trees, such as Scots pine, for example, where male and female heaths and moors. occur on the same ). The flowers appear just before the leaves It also forms part open in spring, with the male flowers or , which are about of the montane 1.5 cm. long, opening to reveal numerous white stamens tipped scrub community with yellow pollen. The female flowers are more upright and at the treeline, and develop thicker pale green has been recorded carpels which receive the at elevations of up pollen. Pollination is to 780 metres in Eared willow growing beside the Allt Abhain nam Fiadh carried out by , the UK. stream in Glen Affric. mainly by bees, but also by hoverflies. Pollinated Physical characteristics female flowers produce Eared willow is a member of the tiny that ripen willow family, , in which it in May or June, and are is grouped with the sallows Ð in fact an dispersed by the wind, alternative name sometimes used for aided by white cottony the species is eared sallow. It is tufts attached to them. considered to be a shrub, rather than a Eared willow also tree, and it can reach 3 metres in height propagates easily from with stems up to 20 cm. in diameter. branch cuttings that are It is typically rounded and bushy in inserted directly into shape, with multiple stems spreading the ground. out at, or near, ground level. The bark Eared willow is a is grey and smooth, although in older pioneer species, meaning individuals there can be large cracks or that it readily colonises splits running longitudinally on the open ground, and it can stems. Twigs are a dark reddish-brown often be the first woody in colour, and the scales which cover species to get established Twig detail, showing the leaves and the buds are yellow-brown and darker on wetter areas. It can Male flowers of eared willow, showing the the stipules or ‘ears’ on the stem. at their tips. grow rapidly, branching pollen on the stamens. been discovered feeding on eared willow in Speyside. The larvae of a sawfly (Nematus miliaris) also feed on the leaves. A rare species in Britain that is particularly associated with eared willow is the 10 spotted pot beetle (Cryptocephalus decemmaculatus). The adult beetles feed on the leaves, and the larvae feed on fallen leaves. This beetle is a Priority Species in the UK’s Biodiversity Action Plan, Female flowers of eared willow. and is only known to occur at Rannoch and Braemar in profusely to produce its the Highlands, and at some characteristic spreading bushy sites in Staffordshire and shape. Like other , it Cheshire in England. readily hybridises, particularly Galls are induced on with grey willow (Salix Bruch’s pincushion (Ulota bruchii) on the the leaves of eared willow cinerea), tea-leaved willow trunk of an eared willow in Glen Affric. by various invertebrates. () and These include pustules on the upper surface, caused by a mite (Aculus creeping willow (Salix laevis), and harder galls caused by two midges (Iteomyia capreae and I. repens), and this can make major). Another midge (Rabdophaga cinerearum) induces the formation identification of the species of a tiny rosette of leaves at the tip of the twig. Elsewhere in Europe, a problematical at times. sawfly (Euura auritae) causes the formation of spindle-shaped galls on the stems. Ecological relationships Eared willow is an important food in winter for the European of eared willow beaver (Castor fiber), which was hunted to extinction in Scotland by the Although it is not as 16th century. Because of its preference for growing in wet sites and its large or conspicuous as ability to naturally coppice (ie to send out new stems from the base of one the trees in the forest, that is damaged), eared willow is well-suited to thrive in the presence eared willow is nonetheless of beavers. a significant part of the Together with some of its close relatives, such as grey willow ecosystem, especially where () and goat willow (), it also forms part of the ground is damp or willow carr (wet woodland dominated by willows), which is an important wet, and a range of other habitat for invertebrates. organisms are associated with it. Underground, eared Galls induced by a mite (Aculus willow forms ectomycorrhizal laevis) on an eared willow leaf in relationships with fungi, in Glen Affric. which the roots of the fungi surround the plant’s roots without penetrating them, and a mutually beneficial exchange of nutrients takes place. Other fungi are more visible and less beneficial, and eared willow is susceptible to infection by a rust fungus (Melampsora capraearum) which appears as spots on the leaves. The stems and branches provide the habitat for a number of mosses and lichens, and on the lower sections mosses such as common tamarisc-moss (Thuidium tamariscinum), and cypress-leaved plait-moss (Hypnum cupressiforme) can be found. Higher up, generally only pincushion mosses, such as crisped pincushion (Ulota crispa) and Bruch’s pincushion (Ulota bruchii) occur. Lichens which occur on eared willow include widely-distributed and abundant species such as Platismatia glauca and puffed shield lichen (Hypogymnia physodes), while a rare species (Pseudocyphellaria crocata) has been found on it at Balmacara in Lochalsh. The Salix genus as a whole in the UK supports 450 species of invertebrates, so unsurprisingly, eared willow has a range of insects which feed on it. The caterpillars of a number of feed on eared willow, and two which are particularly associated with it in Scotland are the ruddy highflyer ( ruberata) and a tortrix (Epinotia subocellana). The larvae of cousin German (Protolampra sobrina), a rare Northern eggar moth caterpillar (Lasiocampa quercus callunae) feeding on moth that is the subject of a UK Biodiversity Action Plan, have recently eared willow.

© 2006 Trees for Life, The Park, Findhorn Bay, Forres IV36 3TZ, Scotland. ¥ Tel. 0845 458 3505 ¥ Fax 0845 458 3506 E-mail: [email protected] ¥ Web site: www.treesforlife.org.uk ¥ Scottish Charity number SCO21303 Text and photographs by Alan Watson Featherstone. Illustrations by Caragh McAuley. Printed with vegetable oil-based inks on recycled paper made from 75% post-consumer waste by Posthouse Printing, Findhorn.