Salix euxina I. V. Belyaeva (Salix fragilis L.)

Taxonomy: Fam. Salicaceae// Genus: Salix// Species: Salix euxina I. V. Belyaeva

Determined according to the botanical keys provided by Rechinger in Tutin et al. (1964) and Micevski in Micevski (1995) as Salix fragilis L. In later revisions of the Salix fragilis taxonomy (Belyaeva, 2009) Salix xfragilis L. was lectotypified and this term was applied to the hybrid with Salix alba L. The glabrous parent species formerly known as Salix fragilis L. was described as a new species Salix euxina I.V. Belyaeva, rendering the name Salix fragilis L. as misapplied. This taxonomic revisions are accepted by The Euro+Med PlantBase (source: Uotila, 2011). However, in a recent study regarding these replacements Marchenko and Kuzovkina (2022) propose continuing the use of Salix fragilis as the name for the glabrous crack willow and Salix ×rubens for its hybrid with Salix alba.

Note: both S. euxina, S. alba and their hybrid are found in the Osogovo region. S. euxina differs from the hybrid in having very fragile twigs, glabrous leaves shiny above and glaucous below, coarsely and unevenly serrate. The hybrid does not have the pronounced fragility of the twigs, the young leaves have silky pubescence on both sides that wears off with time and the leaf margin in finely serrate.

Lifeform: Tree; phanerophyte – mesophanerophyte according to the Raunkiaer system.

Distribution: Native from Türkiye to Caucasus according to the distribution information provided by the Plants of the World Online portal (Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew). Also native to parts of Europe according to The Euro+Med PlantBase (Uotila, 2011+) and North Macedonia (Micevski in Micevski, 1995).

Habitat: Riparian vegetation – found alongside rivers.

Flowering period: Spring: APR.

References:

Belyaeva, I. (2009). Nomenclature of Salix fragilis L. and a New Species, S. euxina (Salicaceae). Taxon, Vol. 58 (4), pp. 1344-1348. https://www.jstor.org/stable/27757021 [Accessed 06.11.2024].

Marchenko, A.M. and Kuzovkina, Y.A. (2022). Notes on the nomenclature and taxonomy of Salix fragilis (Salicaceae). TAXON 71, pp. 721-732. https://doi.org/10.1002/tax.12685 [Accessed 06.11.2024].

Salix euxina. Uotila, P. (2011+): Salicaceae. – In: Euro+Med Plantbase – the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity. Published at https://europlusmed.org/cdm_dataportal/taxon/d558c641-1c83-4566-a570-9a607bfe47a2 [Accessed 06.11.2024].

Salix L. Rechinger, K.H. in Tutin, T.G., Heywood, V.H., Burges, N.A., Moore, D.M., Valentine, D.H., Walters, S.M., & Webb, D.A. (1964). Flora Europaea. Volume 1. Lycopodiaceae to Platanaceae. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 43 – 54.

Salix L. Micevski, K. in Micevski, K. (1995). The Flora of the Republic of Macedonia Vol. I, Book 3. Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts, pp. 755 – 771.

Salix ×fragilis. Uotila, P. (2011+): Salicaceae. – In: Euro+Med Plantbase – the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity. Published at https://europlusmed.org/cdm_dataportal/taxon/168b4a20-5848-497d-991c-cc222dc71c3a [Accessed 06.11.2024].