yewleaf willow
Salix taxifolia · Salicaceae
yewleaf willow (Salix taxifolia) is a perennial tree in the Salicaceae family. It is native to North America. USDA records it as hardy in zone 9 and warmer, down to about 20°F.
At a glance
| Type | tree USDA |
|---|---|
| Lifecycle | perennial USDA |
| Native status | native USDA |
| Mature height | 40 ft USDA |
| Light | full-sun USDA |
| Soil pH | 5–8.5 USDA |
| Bloom | May–June USDA |
| Flower color | Yellow USDA |
| Hardiness zones | 9 and warmer USDA |
| Guild layer | canopy Derived |
USDA quoted from the USDA PLANTS database · Derived computed by a fixed rule from those columns. No value on this page is estimated.
Growing conditions
It needs full sun. Its drought tolerance is rated medium. It is recorded on soils from pH 5 to 8.5 — a broad range that spans acidic through mildly alkaline ground. Its cold limit is zone 9.
Size and growth
At maturity it reaches about 40 ft, making it a substantial woody plant.
Bloom period
USDA records a bloom period of May through June. Flowers are yellow.
A flowering date, not a pollinator rating.
Foliage, flower and season
Summer foliage is gray-green, fine in texture. Its flowers are not conspicuous — a plant for form and foliage. It carries conspicuous autumn colour. USDA rates its lifespan as short, so plan on replacing or resowing it rather than treating it as permanent structure.
What the site needs to provide
USDA records it across sites receiving 11 to 33 inches of annual precipitation. The low end of that band is genuinely arid, so it has a wide tolerance for dry country. It needs at least 207 frost-free days to finish its season.
Resilience and wildlife
Its growth form is recorded as rhizomatous.
Role in a guild
Canopy. In a layered planting this is the tallest layer of a planting — it sets the light budget everything beneath it lives on. The layer is derived by a fixed rule from growth habit and mature height.
Tags
Related plants
Others in Salix
- feltleaf willow Salix alaxensis
- white willow Salix alba
- peachleaf willow Salix amygdaloides
- littletree willow Salix arbusculoides
Similar role and hardiness
- river sheoak Casuarina cunninghamiana
- beach sheoak Casuarina equisetifolia
- Sydney bluegum Eucalyptus saligna
- 'ohi'a lehua Metrosideros polymorpha
- Monterey pine Pinus radiata
Where this data comes from
Every value on this page comes from the USDA PLANTS database record for symbol SATA, or is computed from those values by a fixed rule. Nothing here is estimated or model-generated. Where USDA publishes no value, this page omits the claim rather than filling the gap.
- Quoted from USDA PLANTS: Bloom, Bloom end, cold stratification, Drought tolerance, fall conspicuous, Flower color, flower conspicuous, foliage color, foliage porosity winter, foliage texture, frost free days min, fruit conspicuous, growth form, Hardiness zones, Lifecycle, lifespan, Light, Mature height, Minimum temperature, Native status, Nitrogen fixation, precipitation max in, precipitation min in, resprout ability, Soil pH, Soil pH (upper), Type.
- Derived by a fixed rule from those columns: Guild layer.
Read our full data sources and methodology.
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