Montana Field Guide

Barratt's Willow is a much-branched shrub that is up to 1 m tall. It has young twigs that are sticky and covered with long, soft hairs. The leaves have petioles that are 5-14 mm long and entire, elliptic or broadly lance-shaped blades that are 4-7 cm long. The blades are densely covered with long, gray hair beneath and thinly so above. The flowers are without petals and sepals and are borne in dense, spike-like inflorescences (aments or catkins); these are erect and sessile on twigs formed during the previous year. The male and female aments occur on separate plants. The seed capsules are hairy, and the bracts subtending them are black. The female aments are 4-9 cm long, while the male aments are 2-5 cm long.

Mature fruit in July-August.

Species of willow are often difficult to identify. The alpine habitat, sessile catkins, and sticky twigs will usually distinguish S. barrattiana from the others in our area. Good specimens with both leaves and mature female catkins are necessary for positive identification.

Cold, moist soil in the alpine zone.

POLLINATORS
The following animal species have been reported as pollinators of this plant species or its genus where their geographic ranges overlap: Bombus vagans, Bombus bifarius, Bombus fervidus, Bombus frigidus, Bombus huntii, Bombus melanopygus, Bombus ternarius, Bombus terricola, Bombus sitkensis, Bombus occidentalis, Bombus pensylvanicus, Bombus bimaculatus, Bombus griseocollis, Bombus impatiens, and Bombus suckleyi (Plath 1934, Macior 1968, Heinrich 1976, Thorp et al. 1983, Colla and Dumesh 2010, Colla et al. 2011, Koch et al. 2012, Williams et al. 2014).

STATE THREAT SCORE REASON
Threat impact not assigned because threats are not known (MTNHP Threat Assessment 2021).