Goodding Willow
Salix gooddingii

Family: Salicaceae

OTHER NAMES
Tohono O’odham: Ce’ul
Spanish: Sauce, Sauz

CHARACTERISTICS
Deciduous tree, 20-30’, can get up to between 60’ or even 90’ (though trees this size are almost all gone from the wild). Plants dioecious (separate male and female plants). Catkin flowers March-June. Fruits are capsules that release cottony seeds.

LANDSCAPE USE
This is a species most useful in riparian habitats where regular water is available.

GROWING CONDITIONS
AN EXPLANAITION OF TERMS USED

SUN full sun to part sun, even shady spots when young
WATER regular-riparian water, even boggy soils
SOIL sandy soil, amendments preferred
HARDINESS hardy to 0°F
BASIN low to middle zone
CONTAINER not recommended
NUTRITION low to moderate
MAINTENANCE very little

Photo by Max Licher, SEINET
Salix gooddingii on iNaturalist

ECOLOGY
This is an important and disappearing riparian species. Larval host to the mourning cloak butterfly (Nymphalis antiopa) western tiger swallowtail (Papilio rutulus), Arizona red-spotted purple (Limenitis arthemis ssp. arizonensis), Weidemeyer's admiral (Limenitis weidemeyerii) and a vast array of other butterflies, moths, and other insects. Because this tree attracts so many insects, it also attracts substrate-insectivorous birds (birds that hunt tree canopies for their food). Nesting tree for birds. Important to native bees and other nectar insects for nectar-rich flowers. This is an important species for the American Beavers and regularly provide stems and branches used as building material for their dens. When the water table in our region was much higher, this tree provided much if not most of the shade in the riparian zones (along with cottonwoods, ash, and other riparian trees).

ETHNOBOTANY
This is an important species to native people, used as medicine, and in all sorts of construction like shelters. The flowers are eaten raw. Willow is used medicinally for headaches.

NATURAL DISTRIBUTION
Found along streams, in canyons and wet meadows, below 7,500’ widespread in the southwest from California to Texas and into northern Mexico.

TAXONOMY AND NAME
This species is in the Salicaceae, the willow family. The genus Salix has 377 accepted species.
The genus Salix is directly from the Latin word "Salix" which means willow. The species epithet "gooddingii" is in honor of Leslie Newton Goodding (1880-1967) a botanist specializing in the flora of the western United States.