Basket Willow
Salix petiolaris
KeystoneHosts 5 caterpillarsPollinator plant

(c) naturalist charlie, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by naturalist charlie
Growing it
| When | Flowers April to May; fruits June to July |
|---|---|
| Type | shrub |
| Sun | Full sun, partial shade |
| Water | Medium, high |
| Soil | pH 5.5–7.5 |
| Hardiness | zone 2–6 |
| Mature height | 3 m |
| Mature spread | 3 m |
| Spacing | 2 m |
| Years to maturity | 4 |
| Bloom | Apr–May |
| Flower colour | Cream not verified, a genus-level estimate |
| In bloom | April May |
| Fruit | Jun–Jul |
| Native to | AB, SK |
lance-shaped leaves about 7 cm long; several stems from the base
Where it has been recorded
Which ecoregions the records fall in
- Aspen Parkland central AB / SK: 140 records, high confidence
- Boreal Transition central AB / SK: 35 records, high confidence
- Moist Mixed Grassland south AB / SK: 35 records, high confidence
- Mixed Grassland south AB / SK: 23 records, high confidence
- Slave River Lowland north AB: 16 records, medium confidence
- Western Alberta Upland central AB: 14 records, medium confidence
- Mid-Boreal Uplands central AB / SK: 10 records, medium confidence
- Peace Lowland north AB: 10 records, medium confidence
- Churchill River Upland north SK: 3 records, low confidence
- Northern Continental Divide south AB: 3 records, low confidence
These are counts of records collected somewhere in the region, which is the resolution of the evidence: the map above shows where inside it. A region with 3 records is not the same claim as one with three hundred, so the count travels with the region. A region missing from this list means nobody has recorded it there, which is not the same as the plant being absent. Records within 900 m of a border count for neither side, because the border is not drawn finely enough to say which one they are on. Source: GBIF occurrence search + PRESERVED_SPECIMEN pass, retrieved 2026-08-24. Boundaries digitised from the National Ecological Framework for Canada v2.2 (Ecological Stratification Working Group 1995), simplified to about 900 m for display: an outline is accurate to roughly a kilometre, not to the metre. How these counts are made.
See every observation, live and current, on GBIF or iNaturalist.
Documented animals
7 documented relationships.
caterpillar host for
- Dot-and-dash Swordgrass Moth Specimen records from scan-bugs.org
- Eupsilia tristigmata Specimen records from scan-bugs.org
- Lithophane fagina Specimen records from scan-bugs.org
- Mourning Cloak Pohl et al. 2018
- Rabdophaga rigidae Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Viceroy Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
nectar for
- Vespula consobrina Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Also worth knowing
Safety
Toxicity not assessed, absence of a warning is not a guarantee of safety
Buying it
About $25–$50 per plant (estimate), usually from a native-plant nursery. Estimate (shrub default); AB retail as of 2026
Where these numbers came from
- Flower detail: not verified, a genus-level estimate