+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| ## Coyote willow {#coyote-willow .Title-Header}                       |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| *Salix exigua* Nutt.                                                  |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Plant Symbol = SAEX                                                   |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+

Contributed by: USDA NRCS National Plant Data Center, New Mexico Plant
Materials Center, & Idaho Plant Materials Center

### 

# Alternate Names

Sandbar willow, gray willow, narrow-leaved willow, dusky willow,
pussywillow

# Uses

*Ethnobotanic*: The value of willow as the raw material necessary for
the manufacture of a family\'s household goods cannot be over-estimated.
Among the Paiute, every woman carried bundles of long, slender willow
which had been scraped white, and coils of willow sapwood that she had
gathered and prepared during the winter months when the leaves were gone
(Wheat 1967). Willow branches are used as the warp for twined baskets
and the foundation in coiled baskets. Willows are used to weave water
jugs, cradles for newborn infants, hats, cooking vessels, serving bowls,
trays, seed beaters, and storage baskets. Some tribes use willow roots
as a sewing strand. Virtually all California tribes use willow in their
baskets.

Tribes which use willow, such as *Salix exigua*, include the Chemehuevi,
Paiute, Mono, Panamint, Pviotso (Northern Paiute), Shoshoni, Bannock,
Ute, Washo, Chiricahua, Jicarilla Apache, Mescalero Apache, Navajo, San
Carlos Apache, Western Apache, White Mountain Apache, Havasupai,
Maricopa, Yavapai, Hopi, San Juan Pueblo (Tewa), Zuni, Papago, and Pima
Indians extending through the American Southwest and Mexico. In
Ancestral Puebloan times, willow, along with threeleaf sumac, was the
material of choice for manufacturing Native American baskets.

Willow is gathered from the time the leaves fall in autumn until the
buds begin to swell in spring. The year-old wands without branches are
chosen, and sorted by size and length. The bark can easily be stripped
off in the spring when the sap rises. Willow wands with the smallest
leaf scars are split and peeled to obtain the tough, flexible sapwood
used for the weft in basket weaving. Color variation is achieved by
alternating peeled and unpeeled willow sticks in the warp. Ute Indians
used to concoct a green dye for coloring buckskin by soaking willow
leaves in hot water and then boiling the mixture to concentrate the
pigment. Willow roots also have been used by others to manufacture a
rose-tan dye.

The Paiute built willow-frame houses covered with mats of cattails or
tules. Slender willow withes were woven into tight circular fences as
protection from the wind that blew sand into eyes and food. For shade,
shed roofs thatched with willows, called \"willow shadows\", were
constructed. In the Pueblo province, coyote willow branches are employed
with leaves attached for thatching roofs. Other light construction uses
included the tops of storage bins or racks for aerating corn while it
dried, such as one recently unearthed at prehistoric Arroyo Hondo
Pueblo.

A bed or sleeping bench of willow poles raised high off the ground
indicated a wealthy man in the Miwok culture in California\'s Sierra
Nevada. Willow brush was placed radically over the roof timbers of an
earth lodge. Boats had eight willow ribs and a gunwale of willow pole
along each side. Sweat lodges are made with willow. A women's shinney
game was played on a field similar to a football field with five-foot
long, sharp willow poles. A ring of rope or string was thrown into an
indent in the field and the women had to move it up the field and throw
it against a goal post without touching or carrying it on the poles.
Counting games are played with willow counting sticks.

Ancestral Puebloans used willow wood for textile loom anchors, rods to
control the weaving rhythm, and finishing needles. Bows, arrow points,
pot rests, scrapers and cradle parts all were crafted from willow. In
later times, Navajo made weaving sticks and arrow shafts from willow
along with other straight-grained woods, and Ute Indians made snowshoe
frames from dried willow branches. Matting was another early product
made from willows.

Other implements made from willow include fire sticks twirled as a
spindle to generate enough heat to ignite a flame and what appear to be
prayer sticks recovered from various archaeological sites. Willow is
still used for making prayer sticks by the Zunis and doubtless by some
of the Rio Grande pueblo. Inner bark was used in spring for rope in
California (Murphey 1959).

Aspirin is the pharmaceutical equivalent of willow bark tea, which is an
effective remedy for headache, fever or sore throat. More than 2,400
years ago, the Greeks learned to use extracts of several native willow
species to treat pain, gout, and other illnesses. In more recent times,
in 1839, salicylic acid was isolated from wild plants and manufactured
synthetically. Early salicylic acid-based products had unpleasant side
effects. Sixty years later, the Bayer Company developed a derivative of
salicylic acid, called it aspirin, and the rest is history.

Tea made from willow leaves will cure laryngitis. Willow reduces
inflammation of joints and membranes. When used as an analgesic, willow
treats urethra and bladder irritation, infected wounds, and eczema.
Willow is used as an over-all treatment of many diseases, including hay
fever, diarrhea, prostatitis, satyriasis, and relief of ovarian pain. A
poultice is made for treating gangrene and skin ulcers. For one remedy
used by the Paiute, burned willow charcoal was added to water and taken
as a tea to stop diarrhea. A San Juan tribal elder said he used willow
leaves to make his mouth water and relieve thirst.

Young willow shoots can be stripped of their bark and eaten. The inner
bark can be eaten raw, prepared like spaghetti, or made into a flour.
The young leaves may be eaten in case of emergency

*Other Uses*: Ecological diversity, bank and sediment stabilization,
maintenance of channel morphology, water quality improvement,
ground-water recharge, flood abatement, fish and wildlife habitat, ribs
of boats, and games.

*Riparian Ecosystem Services and Functions*: The riparian zone
essentially encompasses those alluvial sediment deposits where river and
alluvial ground water supplement that available from local
precipitation. High-to-low elevations, north-south and east-west
gradients, and steep-to-shallow terrain all influence the relationship
between geomorphic and fluvial processes and vegetation community
structure. Riparian ecosystem functions include the following:

-   Ecological diversity.

```{=html}
<!-- -->
```
-   Riparian vegetation traps sediments and nutrients from surface
    runoff and prevents them from entering the aquatic system.

-   Dense matrix of roots in the riparian zone can serve as an effective
    filter of shallow groundwater.

-   Water quality is improved through filtration and trapping of
    sediment, nutrients (particularly nitrogen dissolved in
    groundwater), and pollutants.

-   Riparian vegetation tends to prevent the river from down-cutting or
    cutting a straight path (channeling), thus promoting a sinuous
    course, ground-water recharge, and maintenance of an elevated water
    table.

-   Riparian areas act as a sponge by absorbing floodwaters which is
    then slowly released over a period of time, which minimizes flood
    damage and sustains higher base flows during late summer.

-   Structurally complex riparian vegetation communities provide many
    different habitats and support a diverse array of animal species.
    Different groups of animals occupy or use the different layers of
    vegetation, and this multi-story arrangement is often present
    nowhere else in the arid landscapes.

-   Canopies of plants growing on streambanks provide shade, cooling
    stream water, while roots stabilize and create overhanging banks,
    providing habitat for fish and other aquatic organisms.

*Wildlife*: Rabbits and many ungulates, including deer, moose, and elk,
browse on willow twigs, foliage and bark (Martin 1951). Beavers consume
willow branches, while several species of birds eat willow buds and
young twigs.

California\'s riparian forests support a high diversity of breeding
birds (Miller 1951). In one study conducted on the Sacramento River, 147
bird species were recorded as nesters or winter visitants' (Laymon
1985). The percentage of breeding individuals that are migratory is very
high in the cottonwood-willow habitat. Moister conditions in the
cottonwood-willow forest may promote lusher plant growth, higher
invertebrate populations and, therefore, more available food for
flycatchers, warblers and other migratory, insectivorous birds. Riparian
areas support up to 10.6 times the density of migrant birds per hectare
as adjacent non-riparian areas (Stevens et al. 1977). Most of these
migratory birds belong to the foliage insect (47%) or air insect (34%)
foraging guilds.

Coyote willow is browsed avidly by deer and to some extent by sheep,
goats, and cattle, in summer and early fall. Cattle will leave the
willow patches when the foliage matures and dries, whereas deer devour
the current leafless stem throughout the winter. The browse rating for
willow is good to fair for sheep and goats; good to poor for cattle;
fair for deer; and fair to useless for horses (Sampson et al. 1981).

*Livestock*: Riparian ecosystems offer water, shade, and food for
domestic livestock. Cattle and sheep congregate in riparian areas,
particularly during hot or dry periods. Overgrazing of domestic
livestock in riparian areas destroys riparian ground cover, disrupts the
reproductive cycle of cottonwood trees, destabilizes streambanks, and
thus increases sediment loads to streams.

# Status

Please consult the PLANTS Web site and your State Department of Natural
Resources for this plant's current status, such as, state noxious status
and wetland indicator values.

# Description

*General*: Willow Family (Salicaceae). *Salix exigua*, with its long,
thin leaves, is the most distinctive of the willow species. The leaves
have a very short petiole, and mature blades are 50 - 124 mm long,
linear, with an acuminate leaf tip and either a serrate or entire leaf
edge. Coyote willow is a shrub \< 7 m tall, and spreads clonally by
root-sprouting. The catkin inflorescence appears with or after the
leaves in the spring, and are 22-70 mm long on leafy shoots 5-110 mm
long. The flower bracts are a tawny yellow color.

# Distribution

For current distribution, please consult the Plant Profile page for this
species on the PLANTS Web site. *Salix exigua* is distributed in
wetlands, along alluvial bottomlands and streamsides at elevations lower
than 2700 m. Coyote willow is distributed throughout California north to
Alaska, east across North America, and south to Arizona and Mexico
(Hickman (1993). Mason (1957) says *Salix exigua* is often found at
sites of former Indian habitation, and notes this was one of the common
basket willows of the Indians

# Establishment

*Adaptation*: Coyote willow dominates the riparian forests of lower
terrace deposits and stabilized gravel bars. Willows are found near
water; they require a bare gravel or sand substrate with adequate
moisture for germination and development. Willows grow very rapidly when
their roots are in contact with the permanent water table.

Typically, in California, cottonwoods and willows predominate on the
immediate stream banks, whereas valley oaks are spread irregularly over
the natural levees farther away from stream banks. In other parts of the
American west, temporal gradients occur within a location in the
riparian zone. Early pioneer communities such as cottonwood/willow give
way to late successional communities such as mesquite or sagebrush,
often a consequence of sediment accumulation (Patten 1998). Many
similarities among western riparian ecosystems exist because several
dominant genera (e.g. *Populus* and *Salix* spp.) are common throughout
the West, and many geomorphic and hydrologic processes that influence
riparian establishment are similar.

Western riparian ecosystems have been greatly altered by human activity.
Riparian forests have been reduced to fragmented, discontinuous patches
because of human intervention. For example, estimates are that 70 - 90
percent of the natural riparian ecosystems in the U.S. have been lost to
human activities (Warner 1979). Regional losses in these ecosystems have
been estimated to exceed 98% in the Sacramento Valley in California
(Smith 1977) and 95% in Arizona (Warner 1979). Many factors have
contributed to these resource losses, including the following: natural
resource use; urbanization; alteration of stream flows through dam
construction and ground-water withdrawal; modification of biotic
conditions through grazing, agriculture, and introduction of non-native
species; and alteration within watersheds (Patten 1998).

Coyote willow roots freely from cuttings, and is an easy species to
propagate. Coyote willow is a shrub 3 to 15 feet in height with multiple
branches and deciduous leaves. Its architecture is resilient to
disturbance such as high velocity floodwaters, sediment deposition,
medium to high flooding (anoxic conditions), high winds, heavy
precipitation, or pruning from beaver, deer or wildlife. Beaver browsed
more than 5,000 willow cuttings to ground level in New Mexico, and all
the willow resprouted (Los Lunas Plant Materials Center 1998). These
cutting also survived over two months of continuous inundation.

The NRCS Plant Materials Center at Los Lunas in cooperation with the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service developed a pole planting technique for
establishing willow and cottonwood (USDA, NRCS). We reprint this
procedure below.

-   \"Trial planting on well adapted sites indicate more that 80%
    survival of cottonwood and willow poles when dormant poles are cut
    and planted between November and February.

-   It is essential to monitor the water tables at proposed planting
    sites for at least one year before planting. Poles planted where the
    water table fluctuates widely will have lower survival rates than
    those planted where water table is relatively stable. If groundwater
    monitoring shows the water level will drop more than 3 feet during
    the growing season (May-October), another site should be selected.
    Monitoring of observation wells for at least one calendar year
    before planting will allow better planting depth to ensure
    establishment.

-   Salt cedar (*Tamarix chinensis*), Russian olive (*Eleagnus
    angustifolia*), and giant reed (*Arundo donax*) will need to be
    controlled before poles are planted. However, young cottonwoods and
    willows can grow successfully in quite small openings in stands of
    salt cedar. Study of natural stands suggest they will eventually
    shade out the salt cedar.\"

*Steps for Successful Pole Plantings*:

-   Select sites as close to the area as possible to conserve genetic
    diversity. Try to match donor site and revegetation site in terms of
    soils, elevation, hydro-dynamics, permanent groundwater table, and
    soil salinity (which should be low).

-   Select willow cuttings from a local, native stand in healthy
    condition. Prune no more than 2/3 of plants in an area. Willow
    cuttings for pole plantings should generally be at least 1/2 inch in
    diameter or larger. Select the longest, straightest poles available.
    Use only two to four-year old wood. The total length of the poles
    needed depends upon the water table depth (see #7 below).

-   Measure water table fluctuations for at least 1 year, preferably
    longer, to determine the lowest water table depth. Take a reading at
    least once a month, preferably more often during the driest months
    of the year.

-   Cut poles while dormant during January and February. Remove all side
    branches except the top two or three.

-   Prepare cuttings by trimming off the top to remove the terminal bud,
    allowing a majority of the energy in the stem to be sent to the
    lateral buds for root and shot development.

-   Soak poles in water for at least 5 to 7 days before planting.

-   Dig holes to the depth of the lowest anticipated water table. Sites
    where the water table will be within one foot of the ground surface
    during the growing season are better suited for willows than
    cottonwoods.

-   The cuttings should extend several inches into the permanent water
    table to ensure adequate moisture for sprouting. At least 1/2 to 2/3
    of the cutting should be below ground to prevent the cutting from
    being ripped out during high water flows. Usually, at least 2 to 3
    feet should be below ground. It should also be long enough to emerge
    above adjacent vegetation such that it will not be shaded out.

-   Place cuttings in the hole the same day they are removed from the
    soak treatment. Set the butt as close to the lowest annual water
    table elevation as possible.

-   Electric hammer drills (Dewalt model DW530) fitted with one-inch
    diameter, 3-foot bits were used to plant thousands of coyote willows
    in New Mexico. With one drill, two people installed 500 willow per
    day to a 3-foot depth. A power auger or a punch bar can also be
    used.

-   Coyote willow pole cuttings were generally planted on 10 to 20 foot
    centers in New Mexico. Areas with a shallow water table (4-6 feet)
    were generally planted with a higher number of pole cuttings to
    enhance overall survival of the project; in this case, coyote willow
    was planted on 1-foot centers or even closer. Often understory
    species were planted under the canopy of pre-existing overstory
    (cottonwoods, tree willows) since they are often observed occupying
    this niche.

-   It is critical to ensure the soil is packed around the cutting to
    prevent air pockets. \"Mudding\" (filling the hole with water and
    then adding soil to make a mud slurry) can remove air pockets.

-   When necessary, install tree guards around the poles to protect from
    beavers, other rodents, or rabbits. Coyote willows tend to be fairly
    resistant to pruning from beavers, so tree guards may not be
    necessary.

-   As buds begin to swell (usually in April or May), wipe them off the
    lower two-thirds of the pole. This will reduce evapotranspiration
    water loss and stimulate root growth.

-   Exclude the planting area from livestock grazing for at least two to
    three growing seasons.

There are other techniques for stabilization of banks and erosion
control, called bioengineering, which utilize coyote willows. These
include brush layers, brush mattresses, brush or tree revetments, brush
trenches, vertical bundles, and willow wattles. Often fiberschine,
erosion control fabric and hay bales are utilized to stabilize an
eroding site. For further information on these techniques, refer to *The
Practical Streambank Bioengineering Guide* by USDA, Natural Resources
Conservation Service (Bentrup and Hoag 1998).

Establishment From Seed: Willow seeds must be collected as soon as the
capsules mature (when they turn from green to yellow) and planted
immediately since they retain their viability for only a few days at
room temperature. Even under the most favorable conditions, maximum
storage is four to six weeks. No dormancy occurs, so germination takes
place 12 to 14 hours after planting if the seeds are kept constantly
moist willows are difficult to propagate in quantity by seed.

Willows root so readily by either stem or root cuttings that there is
little need to use other methods. Hardwood cuttings planted in early
spring root promptly.

For natural seed revegetation, coyote willow requires moist soil from
spring over-bank flows or capillary wetting of the soil surface for
establishment. A number of studies have related components of the
reproductive cycle of *Salix* species to floodplain site conditions
produced by streamflow and associated fluvial processes. In particular,
components of the annual pattern of streamflow, or annual hydrograph,
are associated with specific stages of *Salix* seedling emergence and
growth. These include the following: 1) flood flows that precede *Salix*
seed dispersal produce suitable germination sites; 2) flow recessions
following a peak expose germination sites and promote seedling root
elongation; and 3) base flows supply soil moisture to meet summer and
winter seedling water demand (Shafroth et al. 1998; Mahoney et al.
1998). The combination of root growth and capillary fringe defines the
successful recruitment band for seedling establishment, which is usually
from about 0.6 to 2 m in elevation above the late summer stream stage
(Mahoney et al. 1998). The rate of stream stage decline is also critical
for seedling survival and should not exceed 2.5 cm per day.

# Management

*Traditional Resource Management*: Willow is nature's healer. Poles of
willow readily sprout, and help to stabilize stream banks and provide
habitat. Sweat lodges constructed of willow have been known to sprout
and grow, even though the willows were subjected to very high heat.

Willows were traditionally tended by pruning, to produce long straight
stems. Willow is gathered only at certain times of the year, beginning
in the autumn after the leaves fall. For many weavers, gathering will
continue until the following spring when the sap begins to rise again.
Some gatherers, once they find a good stand, will cut as much as they
can. The willows in many areas have not been tended in a long time, and
the stems are old, woody, and twisted. Often basket weavers will prune
many willows, sometimes replanting the stems, so there will be nice
straight basketry materials the following year.

The Chemehuevi gather shoots, which they have burned several times,
until only the living stumps of the willow, remain (Collings 1979).
Straight young shoots grow from these stumps in profusion. Each twig is
carefully selected. Those finally selected are at least fifteen inches
long and between 1/8 and 3/16 of an inch in diameter with as little
taper from end to end as possible.

Before gathering, the weavers I have interviewed make offerings of
thanks and pray for permission to gather (Stevens, unpublished field
notes, 1998). Often tobacco or other offerings are given before
beginning to gather.

Basket weavers process materials with their hands and mouths. Herbicides
sprayed on willows and along streams have a much higher health risk for
humans when they are used for traditional materials. A Washoe basket
weaver says, "Sometimes when you take the willows\' skins off, they have
spots from pesticides." Another weaver says the plants then grow
deformed; the shoots don\'t grow straight and the willows are bumpy and
wormy inside (Fulkerson 1995).

Howe and Knopf (1991) conclude that to ensure the survival of willows
and cottonwoods in riparian communities, resource managers need to
implement strategies to control the spread of exotic species.

Livestock grazing has widely been identified as a leading factor causing
or contributing to degradation of riparian habitats in the western
United States (U.S. General Accounting Office 1988; Chaney et al. 1990,
Fleischner 1994, Ohmart 1996). Livestock grazing can alter vegetative
structure and composition of riparian habitat. Overgrazing, especially
by livestock and big game, frequently changes plant species composition
and growth form, density of stands, vigor, seed production of plants,
and insect production. Livestock grazing can cause the replacement of
bird and mammal species requiring the vertical vegetation structure of
riparian habitat to species, which are ubiquitous in their habitat
preferences.

Slovlin (1984) recommended a 5-year rest from cattle grazing to
re-establish healthy stands of riparian vegetation, such as cottonwood
and willows. Siekert et al. (1985) reported that spring grazing showed
no significant changes in channel morphology, whereas summer and fall
grazing did. However, even with limited seasonal grazing, all tree
seedlings would be eliminated. Marlow and Pogacnik (1985) recommended
fencing riparian habitat, rest-rotation, light grazing (\<20% forage
removal), and grazing after streambanks have dried to 10% moisture.

# Cultivars, Improved and Selected Materials (and area of origin)

Containerized coyote willow saplings are available from most nurseries
in the areas where adapted. We recommend using plants from the same
region, elevation, climate, soil type, moisture or hydrologic regime as
you are replanting.

Coyote willow poles, suitable for transplanting, are available from the
NRCS Plant Materials Center at Los Lunas, New Mexico and Tucson,
Arizona. The Plant Materials Centers vegetatively propagate these poles
from parent stock. Each center maintains parent stock of several
ecotypes collected from the center\'s NRCS service area. These ecotype
collections vary in the amount of genetic diversity within ecotypes.
These centers can supply poles to NRCS Field and State Offices, and
other public agencies.

Contact your local Natural Resources Conservation Service (formerly Soil
Conservation Service) office for more information. Look in the phone
book under "United States Government." The Natural Resources
Conservation Service will be listed under the subheading "Department of
Agriculture."

# References

Auble, G.T. & M.L. Scott 1998. *Fluvial disturbance patches and
cottonwood recruitment along the upper Missouri River, Montana*. Wetland
18(4): 546-556.

Baird, K. 1989. *High quality restoration of riparian ecosystems*.
Restoration and Management Notes 7(2):60-64.

Beier, P. & R.H. Barret 1987. *Beaver habitat use and impact in the
Truckee River basin, California USA*. J. Wildlife Management 51:
794-799.

Bentrup, G. & J.C. Hoag 1998. *The practical streambank bioengineering
guide. User\'s guide for natural streambank stabilization techniques in
the arid and semi-arid Great Basin and Intermountain West.* USDA, NRCS,
Plant Materials Center, Aberdeen, Idaho.

Brode, J. & R.B. Bury 1984. *The importance of riparian systems to
amphibians and reptiles.* Pages 30 - 35 IN: R.E. Warner and K. Hendrix,
eds. California riparian systems; ecology, conservation, and productive
management. University of California Press, Berkeley, California.

Brotherson, J.D., S.R. Rushford, W.E. Evenson, & C. Morden 1983.
*Population dynamics and age relationships of eight trees in Navajo
National Monument, Arizona*. J. Range Management 36: 250-256.

Brunsfeld, S.J. & F.D. Johnson 1985. *Field guide to the willows of
east-central Idaho*. Forest, Wildlife and Range Experiment Station.
University of Idaho Bull. #39.

Bull, E.L. & J.N. Slovlen 1982. *Relationships between avifauna and
streamside vegetation.* Trans. North. Am. Wildl. Nat. Resour. Conf. 47:
496-506.

Cemments, C. 1991*. Beavers and riparian systems*. Rangelands
13:277-279.

Chaney, E., W. Elmore, & W.S. Platts 1990. *Livestock grazing on western
riparian areas.* U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 8, Denver,
Colorado.

Collings, J.L. 1979. *Profile of a Chemehuevi basket weaver*. American
Indian Art Magazine (Autumn). pp 3-11.

Conard, S.G., R.L. MacDonald & R.F. Holland 1977. *Riparian vegetation
and flora of the Sacramento Valley*. Pages 47-56, IN: Anne Sand (ed.),
Riparian Forests in California. Their Ecology and Conservation.

Crouch, G.L. 1979. *Long-term changes in cottonwoods on a grazed and
ungrazed Plains bottomland in Northeastern Colorado*. USDA, Forest
Service Research Note RM 370: 1-4.

Ditterberner, P.L. & M.R. Olson 1983. *The plant information network
(PIN) data base Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming*.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service FWS/OBS-83/36.

Dunmire, W.W. & G.D. Tierney 1997. *Wild plants and native peoples of
the Four Corners.* Museum of New Mexico Press, Santa Fe, New Mexico. 312
pp.

Dunmire, W.W. & G.D. Tierney 1995. *Wild plants of the Pueblo province.
Exploring ancient and enduring use*. Museum of New Mexico Press, Santa
Fe, New Mexico. 290 pp.

Ellis, L.M. 1994. *Bird use of salt cedar and cottonwoods on a grazed
and ungrazed plains bottomland in Northeastern Colorado*. USDA, Forest
Service Research Note RM-370:1-4.

Farley, G.H., L.M. Ellis, J.N. Stuart, & N.J. Scott, Jr. 1994. *Avian
species richness in different-aged stands of riparian forest along the
middle Rio Grande, New Mexico*. Conservation Biology 8:1098-1108.

Fenner, P.W., W.W. Brady, & D.R. Patton 1984. *Observations on seed and
seedlings of Fremont\'s cottonwood*. Desert Plants 6:55-58.

Fleishner, T.L. 1994. *Ecological costs of livestock grazing in western
North America*. Conservation Biology 8:629-644.

Fowler, C.S. 1992. *In the shadow of Fox Peak. An ethnography of the
cattail-eater Northern Paiute people of Stillwater Marsh*. Cultural
Resource Series Number 5. U.S. Department of the Interior. Fish and
Wildlife Service, Region 1. Stillwater National Wildlife Refuge. 264 pp.

Fulkerson, M.L. 1995. *Weavers of tradition and beauty. Basketmakers of
the Great Basin.* University of Nevada Press. 138 pp.

Gaines, D. 1977. *The valley riparian forests of California: Their
importance to bird populations.* Pages 57-86, IN: Anne Sand (ed.),
Riparian Forests in California. Their Ecology and Conservation.

Glinski, R.L. 1977. *Regeneration and distribution of sycamore and
cottonwood trees along Sonoita Creek, Santa Cruz County, Arizona*. USDA,
Forest Service Gen. Tech. Rep. RM-43:116-123.

Grenfell, W.E., Jr. 1988. *Valley foothill riparian*. Pages 86-87, IN:
Kenneth A. Mayer and William F. Laudenslayer, Jr. A guide to wildlife
habitats of California. USDA - Pacific SW Forest and Range Experiment
Station, California Dept. of Fish and Game, PG and E, and USDA Forest
Service Region 5.

Grime, J.P. 1978. *Interpretation of small-scale patterns in the
distribution of plant species in space and time.* Pages 101-104, IN:
A.J.H. Freysen and J.W. Woldendorp (eds.) Structure and Functioning of
Plant Populations. Elsevier. North-Holland, Amsterdam, New York.

Grime, J.P. and R. Hunt 1975. *Relative growth rate: its range and
adaptive significance in a local flora*. J. Ecology 63: 393-422.

Hartmann, H.T., D.E. Kesler, & F.T. Davies, Jr. 1990. *Plant propagation
principles and practices*. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.
647 pp.

Hickman, J.C. (ed.) 1993. *The Jepson manual. Higher plants of
Calif*ornia. University of California Press. 1400 pp.

Hoag, J.C. 1992. *Use of willow and cottonwood cuttings for vegetation
shorelines and riparian areas.* USDA, NRCS, Riparian/Wetland Project
Information Series #3, Plant Materials Center, Aberdeen, Idaho.

Hoag, J.C. 1993a. *Selection and acquisition of woody plant species and
materials for riparian corridors and shorelines*. Riparian/Wetland
Project Information Series #2. USDA, NRCS, Plant Materials Center,
Aberdeen, Idaho.

Hoag, J.C. 1993b. *How to plant willows and cottonwood for riparian
rehabilitation*. Idaho Plant Materials Technical Note #23. USDA NRCS,
Boise, Idaho.

Howe, W.H. & R.L. Knopf 1991. *On the imminent decline of Rio Grande
cottonwoods in central New Mexico*. The Southwestern Naturalist
36:28-224.

Johnson, R.R. & C.W. Lowe 1985*. On the development of riparian
ecology*. Pages 112-116 IN: R.R. Johnson, C.D. Ziebell, D.R. Patten,
P.F. Ffolliot, and R.H. Hamre (tech. coord.) Riparian ecosystems and
their management: Reconciling conflicting uses. General Technical Report
RM-120. USDA, Forest Service, Fort Collins, Colorado.

Kindscher, K. 1992*. Medicinal wild plants of the prairie. An
ethnobotanical guide*. University Press of Kansas. 340 pp.

Knopf, F.I. and F.B. Samson 1994. *Scale perspectives on avian diversity
in western riparian ecosystems*. Conservation Biology 8(3):669-676.

Laymon, S.A. 1984. *Riparian bird community structure and dynamics: Dog
Island, Red Bluff, California.* Pages 587-597 IN: R.E. Warner and K.
Hendrix, eds. California riparian systems; ecology, conservation, and
productive management. Univ. of California Press, Berkeley, California.

Mahoney, J.M. & S.B. Rood 1998. *Streamflow requirements for cottonwood
seedling recruitment - an integrative model.* Wetlands 18(4): 634-645.

Marlow, C.B. & T.M. Pogacnik 1985*. Time of grazing and cattle-induced
damage to streambanks.* Pages 279-284 IN: Johnson, R.R., C.D. Ziebell,
D.R. Patton, P.F. Ffolliott, and R.H. Hamre (Tech. Coords). Riparian
Ecosystems and Their Management: Reconciling Conflicting Uses. Proc.
First North Am. Riparian Conf. USDA, For. Serv. Gen. Tech. Rep. RM-120.
523 pp.

Martin, A.C., H.S. Zim, & A.L. Nelson 1951. *American wildlife and
plants: A guide to wildlife food habits*. Dover Publications, Inc., New
York, New York. 500 pp.

McGinley, M.A. & T.G. Whitham 1985. *Central place foraging by beavers
(Castor canadensis): A test of foraging predictions and the impact of
selective feeding on the growth form of cottonwoods (Populus
fremontii).* Oecologia 66: 558-562.

Michny, F.J., D. Boos & F. Wernette 1974*. Riparian habitats and avian
densities along the Sacramento River, California*. State of California
Dept. of Fish and Game. 23 pages.

Moore, M. 1979. *Medicinal plants of the Mountain West*. Museum of New
Mexico Press. 200 pp.

Ohmart, R.D. 1996. *Historical and present impacts of livestock grazing
on fish and wildlife resources in western riparian habitats*. Pages
245-279 IN: P.R. Karausman (ed.) Rangeland Wildlife. Society for Range
Management, Denver, Colorado, USA.

Ohmart, R.D. & B.W. Anderson 1986. *Riparian habitat. In inventory and
monitoring of wildlife habitat*. Bureau of Land Management. pp 169-199.

Patten, D.T. 1998. *Riparian ecosystems of semi-arid North America:
diversity and human impacts.* Wetland 18(4): 498-512.

Platts, W. et al. 1987. *Methods for evaluating riparian habitat with
applications to management.* USDA, Forest Service, Intermountain
Research Station, General Technical Report INT-221.

Pope, D.P., J.H. Brock, & R.A. Backhaus 1990. *Vegetative propagation of
key Southwestern woody riparian species.* Desert Plants 10: 91-95.

Reichenbacher, F.W. 1984. *Ecology and evolution of Southwestern
riparian plant communities*. Desert Plants 6:15-22.

Roberts, W.G, J.G. Howe & J. Major 1977. *A survey of riparian forest
flora and fauna in California*. Pages 3-20 IN: Anne Sand (ed.). Riparian
Forests in California. Their Ecology and Conservation.

Robichaux, R. 1977. *Geologic history of the riparian forests of
California*. Pages 21-34 IN: Anne Sand (ed.). Riparian Forests in
California. Their Ecology and Conservation.

Rucks, M.G. 1984. *Composition and trend of riparian vegetation on five
perennial streams in southeastern Arizona*. pp 97-107 IN: R.E. Warner
and K.M. Hendrix (eds.). California Riparian Systems: Ecology,
Conservation, and Productive Management. University of California Press,
Berkeley, California.

St. John, T.V. 1987. *Mineral acquisition in native plants*. Pages
529-536 IN: Elias, Thomas S. (ed.) Conservation and Management of Rare
and Endangered Plants. California Native Plant Society, Sacramento,
California.

St. John, T.V. 1988. *Soil disturbance and the mineral nutrient of
native plants*. Pages 34-39 IN: Rieger J.P. and B.K. Williams (eds.)
Proceedings of the Second Native Plant Revegetation Symposium. San
Diego, California.

Sampson, A.W. & B.S. Jespersen 1981. *California range brushlands and
browse plants.* Division of Agricultural Sciences. University of
California.

Schulz, T.T. & W.C. Leininger 1991. *Nongame wildlife communities in
grazed and ungrazed montane riparian sites*. Great Basin Naturalist
51(3):286-292.

Schulz, T.T. & W.C. Leininger 1990*. Differences in riparian vegetation
structure between grazed areas and exclosures*. Journal of Range
Management 43(4):295-299.

Shafroth, P.B., G.T. Auble, J.C. Stromberg, & D.T. Patten 1998.
*Establishment of woody riparian vegetation in relation to annual
patterns of streamflow, Bill Williams River, Arizona.* Wetlands
(18)4:577-590.

Shanefield, A.N. 1984. *Alder, cottonwood, and sycamore distribution and
regeneration along the Nacimiento River, California*. pp 196-201 IN:
R.E. Warner and K.M. Hendrix (eds.). California Riparian Systems:
Ecology, Conservation, and Productive Management. University of
California Press, Berkeley, California.

Siekert, R.E., Q.D. Skinner, M.A. Smith, J.L. Dodd, & J.D. Rodgers 1985.
*Channel response of an ephemeral stream in Wyoming to selected grazing
treatments*. Pages 276-278 IN: Johnson, R.R., C.D. Ziebell, D.R. Patton,
P.F. Ffolliott, and R.H. Hamre (Tech. coords). Riparian Ecosystems and
Their Management: Reconciling Conflicting Uses. Proc. First North Am.
Riparian Conf. USDA, For. Serv. Gen. Tech. Rep. RM-120. 523 pp.

Slovlin, J.M. 1984. *Impact of grazing on wetlands and riparian habitat:
a review of our knowledge.* Pages 1001-1104 IN: *Developing strategies
for rangeland management*. Nat. Res. Counc. Natl. Acad. Sci. Westview
Press, Boulder, Colorado.

Smith, F. 1977. *A short review of the status of riparian forests in
California*. Pages 1-2 IN: Anne Sand (ed.). *Riparian Forests in
California*. Their Ecology and Conservation.

Stevens, L.E., B.T. Brown, J.M. Simpson, & R.R. Johnson 1977. *The
importance of riparian habitat to migrating birds*. Pages 156-164 IN:
Johnson, R.R. and D.A. Jones (tech. coords*.). Importance, preservation
and management of riparian habitat: a symposium*. USDA, Forest Service
Gen. Tech. Report RM-43. Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment
Station, Fort Collins, Colorado. 217 pp.

Strike, S.S. 1994. *Ethnobotany of the California Indians*. *Volume 2.
Aboriginal Uses of California\'s Indigenous Plants*. Koelz Scientific
Books USA/Germany. 210 pp.

Stromberg, J.C. 1993. *Fremont cottonwood-goodding willow riparian
forest: a review of their ecology, threats, and recovery potential*. J.
Arizona-Nevada Acad. Sci. 27:97-110.

Stromberg, J.C. 1998. *Functional equivalency of saltcedar (Tamarix
chinensis) and Fremont cottonwood (Populus fremontii) along a
free-flowing river*. Wetlands 18(4):675-686.

Thompson, K. 1977. *Riparian forests of the Sacramento Valley,
California*. Pages 35-38 IN: Anne Sand (ed.). Riparian Forests in
California. Their Ecology and Conservation.

Tilford, G.L. 1997. *Edible and medicinal plants of the West*. Mountain
Press Publishing Company, Missoula, Montana.

Trapp, G.R., G.L. Linck & E.D. Whisler 1984. *The status of ecological
research on the mammal fauna of California\'s central valley riparian
communities*. Pages 942-949 IN: R.E. Warner and K. Hendrix, eds.
California riparian systems; ecology, conservation, and productive
management. University of California Press, Berkeley, California.

USDA, Natural Resources Conservation Service 1992. *Soil bioengineering
for upland slope protection and erosion protection*. USDA, NRCS,
Engineering Field Handbook. Chapter 18.

USDA, Natural Resources Conservation Service 1998. *1998 annual
interagency riparian report*. Plant Materials Center, Los Lunas, New
Mexico.

USDA, NRCS 1999. *The PLANTS database*. National Plant Data Center,
Baton Rouge, Louisiana. \<http://plants.usda.gov\> Version: 990405.

U. S. General Accounting Office 1988. *Public rangelands: some riparian
areas restored but widespread improvement will be slow*. Washington, DC,
USA. GAO/RCED-88-01.

Warner, R.E. and K.M. Hendrix 1979*. California riparian systems:
Ecology, conservation, and productive management*. University of
California Press, Berkeley, California.

Wheat, M.M. 1967. *Survival arts of the primitive Paiutes*. University
of Nevada Press, Reno, Nevada. 117 pp.

Williams, D.F. & K.S. Kilburn 1984. *Sensitive, threatened, and
endangered mammals of riparian and other wetland communities in
California*. Pages 950-956 IN: Warner, R.E., and K.E. Hendrix (eds.),
*California riparian systems: ecology, conservation, and productive
management*. University of California Press, Berkeley, California. 1035
pp.

# Prepared By

*Michelle Stevens*

Formerly USDA, NRCS, National Plant Data Center

#### *Greg Fenchel*

USDA, NRCS Plant Materials Center, Los Lunas, New Mexico

#### *Chris Hoag*

Interagency Riparian/Wetland Plant Development Project, USDA, NRCS,
Plant Materials Center, Aberdeen, Idaho

# Species Coordinator

*M. Kat Anderson*

USDA, NRCS, National Plant Data Center

c/o Plant Sciences Department, University of California, Davis,
California

Edited: 05dec00 jsp; 03jun03 ahv; 060816 jsp

For more information about this and other plants, please contact your
local NRCS field office or Conservation District, and visit the PLANTS
Web site\<[http://plants.usda.gov](http://plants.usda.gov/)\> or the
Plant Materials Program Web site
\<[http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov](http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov/)\>

*The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in
all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national
origin, sex, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual
orientation, and marital or family status. (Not all prohibited bases
apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require
alternative means for communication of program information (Braille,
large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA\'s [TARGET
Center](http://www.usda.gov/oo/target.htm) at 202-720-2600 (voice and
TDD).*

*To file a complaint of discrimination write USDA, Director, Office of
Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 14th and Independence
Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call 202-720-5964 (voice or
TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.*

*Read about [Civil Rights at the Natural Resources Convervation
Service](http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/about/civilrights/).*