Peach Leaf Willow Tree
Peach-leaf Willow (Salix amygdaloides, Anders.)-Erect, straight-branched tree, 30 to 40 feet high, rarely 70 feet high. Bark brown, scaly, on thick plates. Wood soft, weak, pale brown. Buds ovate, lustrous, brown. Leaves broadly lanceolate or ovate, serrate, taper pointed, 3 to 5 inches long, 1 inch wide, glabrous, paler, and glaucous beneath; petioles slender, compressed; stipules kidney shaped, broad, serrate, soon dropping. Flowers with the leaves; catkins loosely flowered, 1 to 2 inches long. Fruits narrowlyvoid capsules, taper pointed, smooth on stem of equal length. Preferred habitat, borders of streams and lakes. Distribution, Quebec to British Columbia, south through New York, Missouri and New Mexico.
The resemblance of the foliage of this tree to that of peach trees is striking. The leaves curl slightly, and hang pendant on their slender, flexible stems. It is one of our few willow trees that rise above medium height. Rare in the East, it is common in the valley of the Ohio, and along streams that flow down the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains. It is often met in cultivation in the Middle West.