Tree · Salicaceae
Grayleaf willow
Salix glauca
Grayleaf willow is recorded as native to 6 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 46 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Grayleaf willow at a glance
- Native in
- 46 counties, across 6 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 9b PLANTS minimum temperature 24°F
- Mature height
- 4 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Not recorded Moisture use not recorded
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 9b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of 24°F; zone 9b winters bottom out at 25°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Grayleaf willow is recorded as native to 6 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 46 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 46 where it is listed.
- Salt Lake County, UT
- Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, AK
- Bethel Census Area, AK
- Utah County, UT
- Okanogan County, WA
- Cache County, UT
- Taos County, NM
- Anchorage Municipality, AK
- San Miguel County, NM
- Whatcom County, WA
- Kenai Peninsula Borough, AK
- Lincoln County, WY
- Sanpete County, UT
- Lake and Peninsula Borough, AK
- Nome Census Area, AK
Native counties by state
- Alaska 18 counties
- Montana 3 counties
- New Mexico 3 counties
- Utah 9 counties
- Washington 4 counties
- Wyoming 9 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Shrub, Tree
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 4 ft
- Growth rate
- Rapid
- Growth form
- Multiple Stem
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Long
- Active growth period
- Not recorded
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Not recorded
- Moisture use
- Not recorded
- Drought tolerance
- Not recorded
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Medium
- Precipitation range
- 8 to 33 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Medium and fine
- pH range
- 5.5 to 8
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Not recorded
- Salinity tolerance
- Low
- Fertility requirement
- Not recorded
- Minimum root depth
- Not recorded
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- 24°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 9b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 89
- Fire tolerance
- High
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Yellow
- Showy flowers
- No
- Bloom period
- Early Summer
- Foliage color
- Dark Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Red
Other
- Toxicity
- Not recorded
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Not recorded
- Family
- Salicaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- SAGL
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Salix glauca (PLANTS symbol SAGL).
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources