British Native Trees
and Shrubs

Goat Willow Salix caprea (Salicaceae)

So many features of this appealing deciduous shrubby tree are either softly downy or rounded that it cannot fail to charm. The short trunk, with smooth, greenish-brown bark, fissured when old, has many wide branches which form a rounded outline, usually not more than 5 m in height although it can reach 10 m, and the young twigs are downy. The alternate leaves of this ‘pussy willow’, up to 10 cm long, are oval with a wavy margin and a short point, dark grey-green above, pale grey with silky hairs on the underside. And the catkins, which appear in March and April before the leaves, are also rounded and soft, the male and female catkins growing on separate trees. First to open are the slender, light-green female flower heads which later carry the seed capsules covered in silvery down. Then come the silky, grey, bud-like male catkins smothered with showy golden anthers.

Goat willow is found in mixed, broad-leaved woodland, hedgerows and scrub, most often on basic soils, throughout England, ascending to 500m in the Pennines.

This is an attractive, good-natured plant, easy to grow as a tree or shrub or in a mixed hedge. Its grey-green appearance makes an interesting contrast with other trees and the cheerful catkins appear before most flowers. It prefers a light, sunny spot and grows on most well-drained soils. It tolerates drier conditions than other native willows and withstands pollution and cutting back. Although willows root more easily from hardwood cuttings in winter than any other British shrub or tree, the goat willow is often better propagated from seed or suckers.

Second in importance only to oak as a species for wildlife, goat willow is favoured by beetles, bees, hoverflies, ants and bats, providing food for over 200 different insects. The yellow glands at the base of the male catkins produce good nectar which attracts large tortoiseshell and comma butterflies, and the anthers supply pollen for bees. Purple emperor butterflies pupate on the underside of the leaves which are also attractive to numerous moths including the poplar, sallow kitten, buff-tip, common quaker and pus, which in themselves become food for tits.

Page last updated - January 10, 2002  

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