Pussy Willow

Salix discolor

KeystoneHosts 15 caterpillarsSpecialist hostBird foodPollinator plant

Growing it

When	Flowers March to April
Type	shrub
Sun	Full sun, partial shade
Water	Medium, high
Soil	pH 5–7.5
Hardiness	zone 2–7
Mature height	6 m
Mature spread	3 m
Spacing	2 m
Years to maturity	5
Bloom	Mar–Apr
Flower colour	Cream not verified, a genus-level estimate
In bloom	March April
Native to	AB, SK

elliptic leaves about 8 cm long; several stems from the base

Where it has been recorded

BothSpecimensObservations

111 squares of about 28 km, each holding at least one record. A square is not a claim that the plant grows throughout it, and an unshaded square is unrecorded rather than empty. Darker squares hold more records, which follows roads and towns as much as it follows the plant. 75 herbarium specimens and 115 field observations this project may redraw. A filled dot is a pressed sheet somebody can re-examine; a hollow ring is a photograph identified by community agreement. Where the dots are dense is where people have looked, not where the plant is commonest, and empty ground is unsurveyed rather than unoccupied. How this map is made.

Which ecoregions the records fall in

Aspen Parkland central AB / SK: 112 records, high confidence
Mid-Boreal Uplands central AB / SK: 45 records, high confidence
Moist Mixed Grassland south AB / SK: 32 records, high confidence
Boreal Transition central AB / SK: 25 records, high confidence
Fescue Grassland south AB: 16 records, medium confidence
Northern Continental Divide south AB: 13 records, medium confidence
Cypress Upland south AB / SK: 9 records, medium confidence
Peace Lowland north AB: 9 records, medium confidence
Western Alberta Upland central AB: 9 records, medium confidence
Eastern Continental Ranges central AB: 6 records, low confidence
Churchill River Upland north SK: 4 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

42 documented relationships, 2 with a specialist that has no alternative.

nectar for

Andrena clarkella Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Andrena erythrogaster Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Andrena mariae Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Andrena miserabilis Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Andrena vicina Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Black-shouldered Drone Fly Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Brown-belted Bumble Bee Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Confusing Bumble Bee Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Cynomya cadaverina Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Eristalis flavipes Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Golden Northern Bumble Bee Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Helophilus fasciatus Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Mourning Cloak Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Northern Paper Wasp Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Orange-legged Furrow Bee Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Painted Lady Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Red Admiral Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Spring Cellophane Bee Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Tricoloured Bumble Bee Specimen records from www.bumblebeewatch.org
Yellow-banded Bumble Bee Specimen records from www.bumblebeewatch.org

caterpillar host for

Big Poplar Sphinx Pohl et al. 2018
Canadian Tiger Swallowtail Acorn & Sheldon 2006
Cecropia Moth Pohl et al. 2018
Cladara limitaria Specimen records from scan-bugs.org
Compton Tortoiseshell Pohl et al. 2018
Eupsilia tristigmata Specimen records from scan-bugs.org
Janus abbreviatus Specimen records from mycoportal.org
Lithophane fagina Specimen records from scan-bugs.org
Mourning Cloak Acorn & Sheldon 2006
Polyphemus Moth Pohl et al. 2018
Rabdophaga strobiloides Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Saddleback Looper Specimen records from scan-bugs.org
Semioscopis inornata Specimen records from scan-bugs.org
Speckled Green Fruitworm Specimen records from scan-bugs.org
Twin-spotted Sphinx Pohl et al. 2018
Western Tiger Swallowtail Acorn & Sheldon 2006
White Admiral Acorn & Sheldon 2006

pollen for

Blue Orchard Mason Bee Packer
Mining Bees ★Wilson & Carril 2015
Spring Cellophane Bee Packer

cover for

Black-capped Chickadee Cornell Lab of Ornithology

nest site for

Yellow Warbler ★Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Also worth knowing

Safety

Toxicity not assessed, absence of a warning is not a guarantee of safety

Edible parts

Bark

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