Return to Native Trees of the Southern Rocky Mountains

Our present camp is a beautiful one. A rich and open plain of luxuriant grass, dotted with buffalo in all directions, a high picturesque hill in front, and a lovely stream of cold mountain water flowing at our feet. On the borders of this stream, as usual, is a dense belt of willows, and under the shade of these we sit and work by day, and sleep soundly at night. - John Kirk Townsend, 1834.

The difficulty in distinguishing any willow from others seems, at first, insurmountable, yet in any given region there are but a few willows of tree size, and each of these has its earmarks by which it may be known. - Donald Culross Peattie

Peachleaf willow is the largest of many willows of the western prairies, and it is often the only large native tree on the prairies other than the cottonwood. The Peachleaf willow is also found with cottonwoods along streams of the eastern foothills of the Rockies, and in river valley bottoms of western slopes, and in the Rio Grand valley, but not above 7500 feet elevation.

Like many other tree-sized willows this tree often has multiple sloping main stems, reaching 15 feet or more in height. Some specimens have single upright trunks and reach 30 to 45 feet with trunks up to two feet in diameter. It grows rapidly but is short lived, and the soft weak wood has no use as timber. Peachleaf willow only spreads by seeds, which puts it at a disadvantage to foreign willow trees that can propagate from roots or even bits of growing twigs that have snapped off and fallen into streams and floods and been carried away to moist soil.

The scientific name of Peachleaf willow is Salix amygdaloides, the peach-like willow, from amygdalus the Latin name for Peach.

The Crack willow is the common large old willow of cities along streams in the eastern foothills, in locations from 4000 to 6000 feet elevation. It can grow very large, with trunks over 5 feet through and heights nearly 80 feet. Crack willow has dark brown bark in rough furrows. The smooth bright green leaves often reach 6 inches in length. The Crack willow is not native to the west. It was used during the American War for Independence to make charcoal for gunpowder. Its twigs break easily in the wind, and new trees can sprout from twigs buried in wet soil, making this tree a very prolific spreader.

The Pacific willow is very similar to the Peachleaf willow. Its leaves are dark green in color and shiny. It is found in Archuleta, San Miguel, and Montrose Counties in Colorado.

Other native willows of the Rockies that occasionally achieve tree size are the Bebb willow ( Salix bebbiana ), the Scouler willow (Salix scouleriana) , and the Sandbar willow ( Salix exigua ). These are described in the small tree section. It is difficult to distinguish the smaller willows from one another, especially the many kinds of willow shrubs that never attain tree size.

Leaves of Peachleaf willow are dull yellow-green above, two to six inches long, 3/4 to 1 1/4 inches wide, drawn out into a long point, finely toothed on edge of leaf, with stout orange or yellow mid-rib and prominent veins. Underside a dull whitish color. Leaves of young shoots much larger. Leafstalks twisted and 1/3 to 3/4 inch long.

The Stems and twigs are yellowish, orange, reddish, to pale gray. There are no terminal buds on the ends of willow twigs, an obvious feature that distinguishes willows from cottonwood trees. Likewise the buds of all willows have only one scale, the only tree group of the southern Rockies with one bud scale.

Peachleaf willow bark is smooth when young; pale gray or reddish brown to very dark brown or dark gray and deeply furrowed and cracked into ridges or thin loose plates on older trees.