Salix chaenomeloides ("Marubayanagi")

Japanese name: マルバヤナギ （丸葉柳）
Scientific name: Salix chaenomeloides

[Overview]
A deciduous tree 10–20 m tall, found in wet or moist places such as riverbanks on flatland.
It branches freely and forms a broad crown.
Leaves are simple and alternate, elliptic, 5–15 cm long and 2–7 cm wide, with a pointed tip.
The leaves are hairless on both sides, and the underside is slightly tinged with powdery white.
The leaf margins have fine serrations with a gland at the tip of each tooth.
Young leaves are usually tinged with red.
The petiole is 0.7–1.5 cm long; there are wart-like glands on the upper part of the petiole and at the base of the leaf, and small leaf-like structures are sometimes attached.
The stipules are round and remain late on young branches, where they are very conspicuous.
It is dioecious.
The flowers bloom the latest of all the willows in Japan, borne on cylindrical catkins that appear after the leaves unfold, with leaves beneath the catkins.
Male catkins are 4–7 cm long and female catkins are about 2–4 cm long.
The flowers have no petals.
The fruit is a capsule that splits open when ripe, releasing seeds wrapped in cottony hairs called ryujo (willow cotton).

[Uses]
The wood is light and is said to be used for making geta (Japanese wooden clogs), boxes and the like.

[Cultivation]
Propagate by cuttings.
It prefers sunny, well-drained, moist soil.
In winter, apply organic fertilizer around the plant.
Pests and diseases include powdery mildew, rust, longhorn beetles and aphids.

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