White willow or Hoary willow: how to tell them apart?
White willow and Hoary willow look alike and are often mixed up. Here is how to tell them apart, feature by feature, with their photos and the details to look for.
⚡ The quick answer
White willow
Salix alba
Hoary willow
Salix eleagnos
White willow becomes a large tree with elongated leaves, greyish green above and silky white only beneath, whereas the hoary willow remains shrubby, with narrow leaves silky and silvery on both sides.
🍃 Leaves
Long and narrow, finely toothed, underside silky silvery
Deciduous, very narrow, elongated, green above, cottony white beneath
🌸 Flowers
Erect catkins appearing with the leaves
Erect catkins appearing before the leaves
🍎 Fruits
Small capsules releasing cottony seeds
Small cottony capsules
🪵 Bark
Grey, deeply fissured in diamond patterns with age
Slender grey-brown shoots, flexible drooping habit
📏 Size
15 to 25 m tall
2 to 5 m tall
🗺️ Habitat
Riverbanks and ditch edges, damp soils
Riverbanks, hedgerows, cool and damp soils
⚠️ Toxicity
No known toxicity; bark rich in salicin, the traditional origin of aspirin
No known toxicity.
🔎 And from the Hoary willow side
White willow becomes a large tree with elongated leaves, greyish green above and silky white only beneath, whereas the hoary willow remains shrubby, with narrow leaves silky and silvery on both sides.
🌿 Go further
Want to practise spotting these details on real photos? Floraneo offers profiles and quizzes for dozens of look-alike species.
ℹ️ Educational profile — do not use it to judge whether a plant is edible or safe.