Salix gracilistyla var. gracilistyla (rose-gold pussy willow, "Nekoyanagi")

Japanese name: ネコヤナギ （猫柳）
Scientific name: Salix gracilistyla var. gracilistyla

[Overview]
A deciduous shrub 0.5–3 m tall, common on gravelly and sandy ground along the banks of fast-flowing upper river reaches.
It grows in places where the base is submerged in water.
The branches grow in clumps and spread sideways; the twigs are at first densely covered with long gray hairs, but later become hairless.
Leaves are simple and alternate, oblong-elliptic, 6–13 cm long and 1.5–3 cm wide, with a pointed tip and fine serrations on the margin.
There are 14–18 pairs of lateral veins.
Young leaves are at first covered with silky hairs on both sides, and the hairs on the underside remain even when the leaves are mature.
The petiole is 0.5–2 cm long.
It is dioecious.
The flowers are densely borne on oblong catkins that appear before the leaves unfold, and have bracts densely covered with long white hairs.
Male catkins are 3–5 cm long and 1–1.5 cm across.
Female catkins are 2.5–4 cm long and slenderer than the male catkins.
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 catkins are used as cut flowers and in flower arrangement, but most of those now on the market are Furisode-yanagi, regarded as a hybrid of Neko-yanagi and Bakko-yanagi.
The bark is used as a folk remedy.

[Cultivation]
Propagate by cuttings.
It prefers sunny, well-drained, moist soil.
It dislikes dry places.
For potted plants, water thoroughly when the soil surface begins to dry.
In winter, applying organic fertilizer alone is sufficient.
Pests and diseases include powdery mildew, rust, longhorn beetles and aphids.

View this page in Japanese (日本語)