How do you recognise Dappled willow (Salix integra)?

Leaf

Frank Vincentz, Wikimedia · CC BY-SA 3.0

Dappled willow

Salix integra Thunb.

Also known as: Japanese willow, Hakuro-nishiki willow

Family: Salicaceae

1.50 to 3 m tall

Planted singly or in pots, cool soils

Flowering: March – April, before the leaves

Full sun

Part shade

Very hardy, to about -25°C

❓ How do you recognise this plant?

The 'Hakuro Nishiki' variety of dappled willow produces pink, white and green variegated foliage that is particularly spectacular at bud break in spring, a colour that gradually fades to a more ordinary green in summer.

🍃 Leaves

Deciduous, narrow, elongated, often variegated pink, white and green depending on the variety

🌸 Flowers

Small inconspicuous catkins, male and female separate on different plants

🍎 Fruits

Small capsule opening to release cottony seeds

🪵 Bark

Greyish-brown, slender, flexible shoots

🗺️ Distribution

Native to Japan, China and Korea; planted in France as an ornamental shrub, notably as a grafted standard

🐝 Value for pollinators

Early nectar-rich catkins, a resource for the very first bees of spring

✂️ Horticultural uses

Ornamental shrub grown for its pink and white variegated foliage, spectacular at bud break, often clipped into a ball or grafted on a stem

⚠️ Possible toxicity

No notable known toxicity

🌱 Known cultivars

'Hakuro-nishiki'

The cultivar 'Hakuro-nishiki', very widely sold as the 'shrimp willow', is recognised by its young foliage variegated cream-white and bright pink in spring, whereas the typical species has simply silvery-green foliage. It appeared on the European horticultural market in the 1990s and is now almost the only form sold in nurseries.

🌿 Other Salicaceae to discover

White poplar

Populus alba

Weeping willow

Salix × sepulcralis 'Chrysocoma'

ℹ️ Educational profile — do not use it to judge whether a plant is edible or safe.

🌱 This database is constantly evolving — species and information are added and corrected regularly. Spotted a mistake? Report it below.