Tree · Salicaceae
Sandbar willow
Salix interior
Sandbar willow is recorded as native to 32 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,121 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Sandbar willow at a glance
- Native in
- 1,121 counties, across 32 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 1a PLANTS minimum temperature −62°F
- Mature height
- 30 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Full sun (shade-intolerant) Moisture use not recorded
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 1a. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −62°F; zone 1a winters bottom out at −60°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Sandbar willow is recorded as native to 32 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,121 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 1,121 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alaska 4 counties
- Arkansas 49 counties
- Colorado 16 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 1 county
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Illinois 97 counties
- Indiana 70 counties
- Iowa 24 counties
- Kansas 99 counties
- Kentucky 65 counties
- Louisiana 42 counties
- Maine 1 county
- Maryland 7 counties
- Michigan 62 counties
- Minnesota 72 counties
- Mississippi 6 counties
- Missouri 100 counties
- Montana 17 counties
- Nebraska 69 counties
- New Jersey 11 counties
- New York 31 counties
- North Dakota 49 counties
- Ohio 66 counties
- Oklahoma 34 counties
- Pennsylvania 31 counties
- South Dakota 49 counties
- Tennessee 16 counties
- Vermont 3 counties
- Virginia 6 counties
- Wisconsin 11 counties
- Wyoming 12 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
- 30 ft
- Growth rate
- Rapid
- Growth form
- Single Stem
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Short
- Active growth period
- Spring
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intolerant (full sun (shade-intolerant))
- Moisture use
- Not recorded
- Drought tolerance
- Low
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Medium
- Precipitation range
- 10 to 70 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Fine
- pH range
- 4 to 7.8
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Low
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Low
- Minimum root depth
- 36 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −62°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 1a and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 120
- Fire tolerance
- Medium
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Green
- Showy flowers
- No
- Bloom period
- Early Spring
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Salicaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- SAIN3
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 interior (PLANTS symbol SAIN3).
- 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