Salix repens L., Creeping Willow

Account Summary

Growth form and preferred habitats

This attractive, polymorphic, creeping, sprawling, or low but still erect or ascending, shrubby willow is local, occasional and widely scattered in a range of acidic heath and sandy habitats in B & I, but rare or absent elsewhere. The prostrate form of the plant (var. repens, or var. ericetorum) with leaves that soon become nearly hairless (glabrous) is typically found on acid heaths, bog margins, cliffs, upland stream-sides and on stabilised scree, rocky slopes and stony or sandy, generally acidic lough shores and in nearby pastures. The more ascending growth form, var. fusca, although very much less obviously differentiated than the procumbent form, is generally a plant of lowland fen margins and stony lakeshores and can grow up to 1.5 m or exceptionally 2.0 m in height, bearing densely covered, silky-haired leaves. It has only ever been recorded by John Harron on two occasions at one site, Carrigullian Lough, Co Down (H38) (Meikle 1984; BSBI Database accessed February 2020).

Fermanagh occurrence

S. repens is recorded in 46 Fermanagh tetrads, 8.7% of those in the VC. However, although we regard it as occasional, it only occurs in any great quantity in two sites: around the damp, heathy shores of Lough Glencreawan, above the Cliffs of Magho (also known as 'Poulaphouca') in the Lough Navar Forest Park and secondly in the hills above Florencecourt. Elsewhere, the prostrate growth form is mainly, but quite sparingly found on acid heaths, bog margins, cliff ledges, upland stream-sides and rocky slopes or on stony or sandy, acid lough shores. As our tetrad map demonstrates, S. repens is widely, but rather thinly scattered across the VC, but is mainly met around both lakes of Lough Erne, plus on the shores of Lough Melvin and the shallow, heathy peatlands overlying limestone above Florencecourt and the blanket bog slopes of Cuilcagh mountain. More widely it is less frequently found on heaths, bogs, moorland tracks and cliffs on the Western Plateau.

Variation

Taxonomically, the distinction, status and correct naming of the variant forms are complicated and unclear (Meikle 1984, p. 144). In the Flora of Connemara and the Burren, for instance, Webb & Scannell (1983) found that they could not reliably correlate the distinguishing characters and separate any different forms at all. Locally in Fermanagh, however, one rather different habitat of the sprawling plant (whether or not we distinguish it with a name) is in and out of the gryke (or grike) fissures in limestone pavement on the summits of Knockmore and Knockninny hills.

S. repens is a very variable species with respect to small-scale environmental differences (Fowler et al. 1983). The Fermanagh forms of the plant are very different from the maritime var. argentia, whose leaves are covered with silky hairs and which is quite common on the not very distant W Donegal coast.

In exposed upland situations, the Fermanagh plants can easily look like dwarfed specimens of S. aurita (Eared Willow), a species that may well also be present. The leaves need to be examined carefully to determine whether they are rugose, as is the case in S. aurita.

There are ten Fermanagh tetrads where S. repens has not been recorded in the post-1975 period, which suggests there has been some loss of suitable habitat.

Threats

None.

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