Species name :

Salix alba L.
Published in L., Sp. Pl. 1021 (1753)

Synonyms :
(basionym or principal syn.)

No Main Synonyms

Full list of synonyms : [Euro+Med] [PlantList] [IPNI] [POWO] [Catalogue of Life ]

Plant Family :

Salicaceae Mirbel (The Willow Family)
4 species from the Salicaceae family are recorded from the Maltese Islands.

English name(s) :

White Willow

Maltese name(s) :

Żafżafa kbira, Safsafa kbira

Status for Malta :

Indigenous. Present on the Maltese islands before man

Frequency :

Very Common     Common     Frequent     Scarce     Rare     Very Rare     Extinct

Growth form :

Raunkiaer lifeform [info]: Macro-Phanerophyte (high trees usually over 10m )
Germination [info]: Dicotyledon

Legal Protection [link]:

Protected by law: schedule I of LN200/2011 AND schedule III of LN311/2006. (Strictly protected tree species)

Red List (1989) :

This species has a threatened status and is listed in the Red Data Book of the Maltese Islands

Flowering Time :

Mar-Apr

Colour of Flowers:

Green or Inconspicuous

Habitat in Europe:

Data will be available in the next update of this website.

Preferred habitat in Malta:

Data will be available in the next update of this website.

Botanical Description:

Tree up to 25 m, often pollarded. Branches ascending, appearing silvery-grey in life. Bark greyish, not flaking. Twigs sericeous when young, later glabrous and brown or olive, not easily breaking off. Leaves 5-10(-12) cm, usually 5½-7½ times as long as wide, acuminate, not or slightly asymmetrical at apex, cuneate at base, finely serrate, covered with white, silky, appressed hairs on both surfaces; petiole usually with a few glands. Stipules caducous. Catkins 3-5 cm, appearing with the leaves, dense, cylindrical. Bracts uniformly yellowish. Stamens 2, free; anthers yellow. Female flowers usually with 1 nectary.

Distributional range:

Most of Europe but mainly as an introduction in the north often planted.

Distributional map in Europe
and the Mediterranean region (2018):

Occurrences in Europe.
(from Flora Europaea pre year 1993):

Albania, Austria and Liechtenstein, Belgium, Britain (excl. Northern Ireland and Channel islands), Bulgaria, Corse, Crete, Czeck Republic and Slovakia, France (incl. Monaco and Channel Islands but excluding Corse), Germany, Greece, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Spain (incl. Andorra but excl. the Balaerics), Hungary, Italy (excl. Sicily and Sardignia), ex-Jugoslavia, Portugal, Poland, Romania, Russia and former USSR,N B C W K E Sardinia, Sicily and/or Malta, Turkey (European part), Introduced in  Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Norway, Sweden

Occurrences in Europe and the Mediterranean region.
(Euro+Med Checklist, 2017) - Country codes

Ab(A) AE(G) Ag Al Ar Au(A L) Be(B L) BH Br Bu By Cg Co Cr Cs Ct Cy Ga(C F) Ge Gg(A) Gr Hb(E N) He Ho Hs(S) Hu Ir It Le Li Lt Lu Ma Mk Mo Po Rf(C CS E K S) Rm Sa Si(M S) Sk Sl Sr Tn Tu(A E) Uk(K U) [cBl(I M) Bl(N) aBr cCo cCt nDa nEs nFe nHb cHs(S) nLa Lt nNo Rf(N NW) nSu]