Publication: Fl. Ross. 1(2): 86. 1788.

Origin: Native

Herbarium search: CPNWH

Notes: FNA7: "Salix arctica is polymorphic and nomenclaturally confusing. E. Hultén (1967, 1971) recognized three subspecies: 1) subsp. arctica (circumpolar from Iceland and the Faeroe Islands across northern Russia, Alaska and Canada to Greenland, south to the Hudson Bay shores of Ontario and the Gaspe Peninsula); 2) subsp. crassijulis (a North Pacific race ranging from Kamchatka and the Russian Far East to the Aleutian Islands, south central and southeastern Alaska along the coast to northern Washington); and 3) subsp. torulosa (ranging from the mountains of central Asia to Kamchatka and the Bering Straits, the Brooks Range and the Rocky Mountains in Alaska, south in the cordillera to southern British Columbia and Alberta). While formal recognition of the three races is appealing, they are actually very difficult or impossible to separate morphologically and have strongly overlapping ranges. Some of the variability may be due to environmental modification (D. B. O. Savile 1964; G. W. Argus 1973; J. H. Soper and J. M. Powell 1985). On Attu Island, Alaska, there are plants to 2 m along with dwarf plants (C. Parker, pers. comm.). Their tall stature cannot be accounted for by habitat alone. The possibility that the complex morphological variability within S. arctica may be ecophenic or ecotypic deserves study."

Last updated 2/10/2024 by David Giblin.