Linnaeus named the Salix genus in 1753.  "Salix" is the classical Latin name for Willows.

Alpine. Tundra. Summer.
Above: Sharkstooth Trail, September 25, 2019.
Left: Lizard Head Trail, July 6, 2005.

Salix nivalis is even tinier than Salix petrophila (shown below), seldomly towering more than an inch above the ground.  Buried in grasses of Alpine Tundra, it is, at first, a challenge to find, but one quickly learns its habitat and then it is easily and commonly found. 

Both Salix nivalis and Salix petrophila are dioecious; male and female flowers are borne on separate plants. The photograph at left shows a plant with male flowers.

William Jackson Hooker named this species in his 1838 Flora Boreali-Americana from a collection made by Thomas Drummond in the northern Rockies, on one of his North American expeditions, probably the 1825-1827 Franklin Expedition.

Some floras continue to indicate that this species should be called Salix reticulata, named and described by Linnaeus, but that is a circumboreal high latitude, arctic species discovered in Labrador. There are a few (questionable) collections of S. reticulata in Colorado, but no other ones in the United States outside of Alaska. Our more southern species is, according to John Kartesz, the ultimate authority for all plant names on this website, Salix nivalis. See the maps below.

"Nivalis" is Latin for "snow" or "of the snow".

Salix nivalis.  Synonym: Salix reticulata.  (Snow Willow)
Salicaceae (Willow Family)

Alpine. Tundra. Summer.
Columbus Basin, June 22, 2010 and Sharkstooth Trail, June 28, 2007.

Male flowers are shown in the top two photographs at left and female in the bottom. 

Although Salix nivalis leaves are typically glabrous (smooth, without hairs), most leaves of the young male plants shown at left are hairy on the top, bottom, and edges.

Alpine. Tundra. Summer.
Sharkstooth Trail, July 7, 2004 and Lake Hope Trail, August 11, 2009.

The pronounced reticulated pattern in the leaves, the more rounded leaf tips, and the shorter stature distinguish this miniature Willow from Salix petrophila shown below.

The mature flowers of the female S. nivalis are shown at top left and the male in the middle photograph.  The bottom photograph shows the gall that is common on this Salix.

Alpine. Tundra. Summer.
La Plata Mountains, August 20, 2009 and
Sharkstooth Trail, August 24, 2011.

The top photograph shows us that fall colors make these tiny plants far more visible than their normal cloak of green, but as the bottom photograph shows, during the summer a careful observer will also be attracted by the numerous flower and seed heads (catkins). Notice the puffs of white that dot the mass of Salix nivalis in the bottom photograph; some of the catkins have fully ripened and exploded with fluff that carries the seeds on fall winds.

Alpine. Tundra. Summer.
Lizard Head Trail, July 6, 2005.

This miniature Willow (and S. nivalis, shown above) can cover large areas above tree line with sparkling pink flowers and relatively large, pointed-tip leaves.  In this picture the female flowers have matured and the seeds are maturing.  Thick, twisted, woody stems wind along the ground below the leaves.

Salix petrophila can grow to eight inches tall, but it is most commonly just two or three inches tall, so although it covers large areas of tundra, it is usually not noticed, and if noticed, hardly ever recognized as a Willow. 

Notice that the photograph shows different leaf shapes and different venation patterns in these leaves.  The leaves of S. petrophila occupy most of the photograph, but in the lower right are the leaves of S. nivalis, discussed above. The two species occupy the same habitat and are often found near each other.

Salix petrophila was named and described by Per Axel Rydberg in 1899 from a collection made by E. Bourgeau in the Rocky Mountains in 1858.

Some floras continue to indicate that this species should be called Salix arctica, named and described by Peter Pallas in 1790 from a collection in "Siberia: the lower reaches of the Ob River", but it is a "circumboreal-alpine" species. Our more southern species is, according to John Kartesz (the ultimate authority for all plant names on this website), Salix petrophila. See the maps below.

"Petrophila" is Greek for "rock loving".

Alpine. Tundra. Summer.
Lizard Head Trail, July 2, 2004.

Red maturing female flowers of Salix petrophila show behind the dark green leaves.

Alpine. Tundra. Summer.
Black Bear Pass Road, July 20, 2008 and U. S. Basin, July 28, 2016.

The flowers are now even more mature than in the above photograph and the catkins have exploded in a mass of fluff to carry seeds.

Range map © John Kartesz,
Floristic Synthesis of North America

State Color Key

Species present in state and native
Species present in state and exotic
Species not present in state

County Color Key

Species present and not rare
Species present and rare
Species extirpated (historic)
Species extinct
Species noxious
Species exotic and present
Native species, but adventive in state
Eradicated
Questionable presence

Range map for Salix arctica, a species said by some botanists to be in the U. S. Rockies. Other experts indicate that the abundant species is Salix petrophila.

Range map for Salix nivalis

Range map for Salix petrophila

Range map for Salix reticulata, a species said by some botanists to be abundantly in the U. S. Rockies. Other experts indicate that the abundant species is Salix nivalis.