Salix arctica

{{Short description|Species of willow}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}} {{Speciesbox |name = Arctic willow |image = ARCTIC-WILLOW-GLAC.jpg |image_caption = Arctic willow in Glacier National Park |genus = Salix |species = arctica |authority = [[Peter Simon Pallas|Pall.]] | range_map = SAAR27.png | range_map_caption = North American territories |synonyms = *''Salix anglorum'' Cham. *''Salix anglorum'' var. ''araioclada'' C.K.Schneid. *''Salix arctica'' var. ''antiplasta'' (C.K.Schneid.) Fernald *''Salix arctica'' var. ''araioclada'' (C.K.Schneid.) Raup *''Salix arctica'' var. ''brownei'' Andersson *''Salix arctica'' var. ''kophophylla'' (C.K.Schneid.) Polunin *''Salix arctica'' var. ''pallasii'' (Andersson) Kurtz *''Salix brownei'' Lundstr. *''Salix brownii'' Bebb *''Salix diplodictya'' Trautv. *''Salix ehlei'' Flod. *''Salix pallasii'' Andersson *''Salix taimyrensis'' Trautv. *''Salix tortulosa'' Trautv. *''Salix crassijulis'' Trautv. |synonyms_ref = <ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.tropicos.info/Name/28300018?tab=synonyms |title=Tropicos |access-date=2 February 2014 |archive-date=19 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140219102302/http://www.tropicos.info/Name/28300018?tab=synonyms |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>[http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/record/kew-5001380 The Plant List]</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nature.ca/aaflora/data/www/wlsaar.htm|title=Flora of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago – Salix arctica Pall}}</ref> |}}

'''''Salix arctica''''', the '''Arctic willow''', is a tiny creeping [[willow]] (family [[Salicaceae]]). It is adapted to survive in Arctic conditions, specifically tundras.

==Description== ''S. arctica'' is typically a low [[shrub]] growing to only {{convert|15|cm|0|abbr=off}} in height, rarely to {{convert|25|cm|0|abbr=on}}, although it may reach {{convert|50|cm|0|abbr=on}} in height in the [[Pacific Northwest]].<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.fs.fed.us/global/iitf/pdf/shrubs/Salix%20arctica.pdf |title=''Salix arctica'' |date=February 2016 }}</ref> It has round, shiny green [[leaves]] {{convert|1|-|4|cm|1|abbr=on|frac=4}} long and {{convert|6|cm|abbr=on|frac=4}} broad; they are pubescent, with long, silky, silvery hairs. Like the rest of the willows, Arctic willow is [[dioecious]], with male and female [[catkin]]s on separate plants. As a result, the plant's appearance varies; the female catkins are red-coloured, while the male catkins are yellow-coloured.<ref name=scaa/><ref name=jeps>Jepson Flora: [http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_JM_treatment.pl?Salix+arctica ''Salix arctica'']</ref>

Despite its small size, it is a long-lived plant, growing extremely slowly in the severe [[Climate of the Arctic|arctic climate]]; one in eastern Greenland was found to be 236 years old.<ref name=scaa/>

[[Hybrid (biology)|Hybrids]] with ''[[Salix arcticola]]'' and ''[[Salix glauca]]'' are known.<ref name=scaa/>

==Distribution and habitat== The Arctic willow grows in [[tundra]]<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=U.S. Department of the Army |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T2p7DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA12 |title=The Official U.S. Army Illustrated Guide to Edible Wild Plants |publisher=[[Lyons Press]] |year=2019 |isbn=978-1-4930-4039-1 |location=Guilford, CT |pages=12 |oclc=1043567121}}</ref> and rocky [[moorland]], and is the [[List of northernmost items|northernmost]] [[woody plant]] in the world, occurring far above the [[tree line]] to the northern limit of land on the north coast of [[Greenland]]. Its distribution is circumpolar. It occurs in Canada in the mainland northern territories and in the Arctic Archipelago all the way up to Ellesmere Island alongside Greenland, and in northern Quebec and Labrador, as well as in northern Iceland, [[Fennoscandia]], northern Russia and northern Alaska.

It also occurs further south in [[North America]] on high-altitude [[alpine tundra]], south to the [[Sierra Nevada]] in [[California]] and the [[Rocky Mountains]] in [[New Mexico]]. It also occurs in [[Xinjiang]], [[China]].<ref name=grin>{{GRIN | accessdate = 24 December 2017}}</ref><ref name=scaa>Salicaceae of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago: [https://www.mun.ca/biology/delta/arcticf/sal/www/wlsaar.htm ''Salix arctica''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314022708/http://www.mun.ca/biology/delta/arcticf/sal/www/wlsaar.htm |date=14 March 2012 }}</ref><ref name=fe>Flora Europaea: [http://rbg-web2.rbge.org.uk/cgi-bin/nph-readbtree.pl/feout?FAMILY_XREF=&GENUS_XREF=Salix&SPECIES_XREF=arctica&TAXON_NAME_XREF=&RANK= ''Salix arctica'']</ref>

==Ecology== The Arctic willow is a food source for several Arctic animals. [[Muskox]]en, [[Reindeer|caribou]], [[Arctic hare]]s, and [[lemming]]s all feed on the bark and twigs, while the buds are the main food source of the [[rock ptarmigan]].

It is the primary [[host plant]] and food source for the Arctic woolly bear moth (''[[Gynaephora groenlandica]]'').<ref>{{cite journal |title=Behavioral Thermoregulation in the Freeze-Tolerant Arctic Caterpillar, ''Gynaephora groenlandica'' |last1=Kukal |first1=Olga |last2=Heinrich |first2=Bernd |last3=Duman |first3=John G. |journal=Journal of Experimental Biology |volume=138 |issue=1 |date=September 1988 |pages=181–193 |doi=10.1242/jeb.138.1.181 |bibcode=1988JExpB.138..181K |url=http://jeb.biologists.org/content/138/1/181|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==Uses== Both the [[Inuit]] and the [[Gwich’in]] make use of this willow. Twigs are used as fuel, while the decayed flowers (''suputiit'') are mixed with [[moss]] and used as wicking in the ''[[kudlik]]''. The plant was used for several medicinal purposes, such as relieving toothache, helping to stop bleeding, curing [[diarrhoea]] and indigestion, and as a [[poultice]] on wounds.<ref name=":1" />

Both the Gwich’in and Inuit in the [[Bathurst Inlet]] area were known to eat parts of the plant, which is high in [[vitamin C]] and tastes sweet.<ref name=":1">[https://www.mun.ca/biology/delta/arcticf/_ca/www/wl.htm Flora of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605171052/http://www.mun.ca/biology/delta/arcticf/_ca/www/wl.htm |date=5 June 2011 }}, S.G. Aiken, M.J. Dallwitz, L.L. Consaul, C.L. McJannet, L.J. Gillespie, R.L. Boles, G.W. Argus, J.M. Gillett, P.J. Scott, R. Elven, M.C. LeBlanc, A.K. Brysting and H. Solstad. 1999 onwards. Flora of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago: Descriptions, Illustrations, Identification, and Information Retrieval. Version: 29 April 2003. {{cite web |url=https://www.mun.ca/biology/delta/arcticf/ |title=Flora of the Canadian Arctic Archieplago - Contents |access-date=2017-10-26 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110303062506/http://www.mun.ca/biology/delta/arcticf/ |archive-date=3 March 2011 }}.</ref> One young leaf contains 7 to 10 times more vitamin C than an orange.<ref name=":0" /> The inside of the young shoots (excluding the bark) can be eaten raw, including those found underground.<ref name=":0" />

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *{{commons-inline|italic=yes}} *[http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_JM_treatment.pl?Salix+arctica Jepson Manual treatment – ''Salix arctica'']

[[Category:Salix|arctica]] [[Category:Flora of the Arctic]] [[Category:Alpine flora]] [[Category:Flora of Greenland]] [[Category:Flora of Norway]] [[Category:Flora of Sweden]] [[Category:Flora of the Faroe Islands]] [[Category:Flora of Iceland]] [[Category:Flora of Russia]] [[Category:Flora of Siberia]] [[Category:Flora of Alaska]] [[Category:Flora of Canada]] [[Category:Flora of the Northwestern United States]] [[Category:Flora of California]] [[Category:Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States)]] [[Category:Flora of New Mexico]] [[Category:Flora of Japan]] [[Category:Flora of China]] [[Category:Flora without expected TNC conservation status]]