Salix serpyllifolia

Description

Salix serpillifolia or Salix serpyllifolia is a species of flowering plant in the family Salicaceae. Salix serpillifolia, also known as thyme-leaved willow, can reach a height of 10–30 millimetres (0.39–1.18 in) and a length of about 20 centimetres (7.9 in). This plant develop woody, dark brown, longitudinally striated, creeping stems. The leaves are tiny, simple, subsessile, spathulate to obovate, without stipules. The upper side is glabrous, glossy dark green covered with a thin waxy layer. Like all willows this species is dioecious. Catkins appear after the leaves. They are about 5 mm long, with yellow anthers. Flowers bloom from May to August. It is present in mountains of southern Europe, from the Iberian Peninsula, the Alps and the Balkans. This species can be found in stony alpine turf, rock crevices and screes at elevation of 1,700–3,200 metres (5,600–10,500 ft) above sea level. Salix serpillifolia contains salicin, the source of salicylic acid in aspirin. The willow genus or willow genus (Salix) is a genus in the willow family, and grows as trees, shrubs, rice or herbaceous dwarf shrubs. The trees in the genus are usually called willow trees, while the more shrub-like species are usually called willow. Otherwise, arrows are usually called the species that have flowering and leaf splitting at the same time, while species that bloom on bare twigs are called willow. The genus has over 400 species. The grayish bark of the wood is smooth or rough and with a wood that often has ridges under the bark. Its winter buds have a bud scales and the leaves are strewn, simple and notched or finely sawn. The willow is a two-story building with flowers gathered in axillary pendants. Fertilizers of willow species have been found in tertiary strata in Europe, Asia and in Arctic regions, and these older species are often close to now living tropical willow species with many stamens. In older Quaternary deposits, modern northern varieties of willow are beginning to emerge. Traces of willow have been found in Italy and in Europe's pre- and postglacial peat layers of several today alpine and arctic species such as dwarf willow, net willow and polar willow.