Botanical name: Salix alba    Family: Salicaceae (Willow family)
Synonyms: Salix regalis, Salix caerulea, Salix pameachiana

White Willow is a medium-sized to large deciduous tree growing up to 10-30 m tall, with a trunk up to 1 m in diameter and an irregular, often-leaning crown. The bark is grey-brown, and deeply fissured in older trees. The shoots in the typical species are grey-brown to green-brown. Leaves are paler than most other willows, due to a covering of very fine, silky white hairs, in particular on the underside; they are 5-10 cm long and 0.5-1.5 cm wide. The flowers are produced in catkins in early spring, and pollinated by insects. It is dioecious, with male and female catkins on separate trees; the male catkins are 4-5 cm long, the female catkins 3-4 cm long at pollination, lengthening as the fruit matures. When mature in midsummer, the female catkins comprise numerous small, about 4 mm, capsules, each containing numerous minute seeds embedded in white down, which aids wind dispersal. White Willow is native to Europe to N. China, NW. Africa. Is is cultivated in Western Himalaya.

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The flower labeled White Willow is ...