Salix myrtillacea seed

LATIN NAME: SALIX MYRTILLACEA

COMMON NAME: Myrtle Willow

The myrtle willow trails the low, creeping shrub with the slender, flexible stems and the small, oval, glossy, dark-green leaves with the pale undersides, the tiny, grey catkins opening with the leaves in the spring, the plant hugging the ground in the dense, spreading mat. It grows slowly into the prostrate, rooting form, and it stands the cold, windswept ground well. It likes the sun, and the moist, gritty, well-drained soil.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

Myrtle willow shows up in the research on the alpine and subarctic willow scrub, and the myrtillacea species appears in the studies of the prostrate shrub mats and the cold-wind microclimates. The work looks at the way the low stems root along the gravel, the tiny leaf build, and the seed biology. The ecologists keep the slope-binding habit in view, and the growers of the alpine and rock-garden plants list the willow in their catalogues.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

Along the cold streams, the myrtle willow mats the gravel with the dense, rooting stems. The low canopy shelters the spring meltwater seeps, the catkins feed the early flies, and the plant makes the fine rock-garden, the erosion mat and the alpine trough plant. It thrives in the moist, gritty, sunny ground. Mat-forming, meltwater-fed and alpine-born.

To grow the Myrtle Willow from seed, sow the seeds on the surface of a wet, sandy seedbed.

Sow the seeds on the surface of a wet, sandy seedbed, and keep the young plants in the cool, moist spot. The grey catkins come with the thaw. , keeping them moist and lightly shaded, keep the seedbed lightly watered, and the young shoots thread out along the damp ground. The grey catkins come with the thaw.