Salix humilis Marshall

vernacular prairie willow — species · Salicaceae

USDA: SAHU2
GBIF: 5372870
Rank: species

prairie willow (Salix humilis) — Platephotograph · Robert WernerehlCC BY-NC-SA source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Growth habit: Shrub
Duration: Perennial
Group: Dicot
Family: Salicaceae Mirb.
Genus: Salix

§2a

Native status, by region

CAN Canada Native
L48 Lower 48 States Native

§2b

County-level range

· 4 counties across 1 state

Legend Native · 4 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought: Low
Shade: Medium
Moisture use: High
Fire: High
Salinity: None
Anaerobic: Medium
CaCO₃: Medium
Hedging: Low

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: -43 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 80 min.
Precipitation: 20–60 in/yr
pH range: 5.9–7
Root depth: 10 in min.
Fertility need: Medium
Soil texture: coarse, medium

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Multiple Stem
Growth rate: Rapid
Lifespan: Moderate
Mature height: 10 ft
Height @ 20 y: 10 ft
Foliage texture: Coarse
Foliage colour: Dark Green
Porosity (summer): Dense
Porosity (winter): Moderate
Flower colour: Yellow
Fruit colour: Brown
Fire resistant: No
N fixation: None
Toxicity: None

§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period: Spring
Seed abundance: Low
Seed begins: Summer
Seed ends: Summer
Spread rate: Slow
Stratify: Yes
Propagation: cuttings, bare root, container

§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability: No Known Source
Nursery stock: Yes
Browse palatability: Medium
Graze palatability: Low
Palatable, human: No
Protein potential: Low
Lumber: No
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 4 counties across 1 state.

Rhode Island view state ↗ 4 N ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/SAHU2 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/5372870 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T18:27:19Z