Salix capreaL.

Goat Willowgoat willow

WFO wfo-0000929313 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Salix caprea, photographed by Anastasia_Surkova
fig. a Anastasia_Surkova, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-06-12 / obs. 205896148
Salix caprea, photographed by Anastasia_Surkova
fig. b Anastasia_Surkova, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 205904380
Salix caprea, photographed by Anastasia_Surkova
fig. c Anastasia_Surkova, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 205900042
Salix caprea, photographed by Jason Grant
fig. d Jason Grant, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 205230277
Salix caprea, photographed by Yann Kemper
fig. e Yann Kemper, CC0 1.0 / obs. 204145110
Salix caprea, photographed by Anastasia_Surkova
fig. f Anastasia_Surkova, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 204159415
Salix caprea, photographed by Anastasia_Surkova
fig. g Anastasia_Surkova, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 203930407
Salix caprea, photographed by Jason Grant
fig. h Jason Grant, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 202771028

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 45 botanical countries

Regions where Salix caprea is native: Altay, Inner Mongolia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Lebanon-Syria, Manchuria, North Caucasus, Primorye, Transcaucasus, Türkiye, Yakutiya, Albania, Austria, Baltic States, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Central European Russia, Corse, Czechia-Slovakia, Denmark, East European Russia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Krym, Netherlands, North European Russia, Northwest European Russia, Norway, NW. Balkan Pen., Poland, Romania, Sicilia, South European Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine AltayInner MongoliaJapanKazakhstanLebanon-SyriaManchuriaNorth CaucasusPrimoryeTranscaucasusTürkiyeYakutiyaAlbaniaAustriaBaltic StatesBelarusBelgiumBulgariaCentral European RussiaCorseCzechia-SlovakiaDenmarkEast European RussiaFinlandFranceGermanyGreeceHungaryIrelandItalyKrymNetherlandsNorth European RussiaNorthwest European RussiaNorwayNW. Balkan Pen.PolandRomaniaSiciliaSouth European RussiaSpainSwedenSwitzerlandUkraine Korea
Native distribution of Salix caprea, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Albania ALB EUROPE
Austria AUT
Baltic States BLT
Belarus BLR
Belgium BGM
Bulgaria BUL
Central European Russia RUC
Corse COR
Czechia-Slovakia CZE
Denmark DEN
East European Russia RUE
Finland FIN
France FRA
Germany GER
Great Britain GRB
Greece GRC
Hungary HUN
Ireland IRE
Italy ITA
Krym KRY
Netherlands NET
North European Russia RUN
Northwest European Russia RUW
Norway NOR
NW. Balkan Pen. YUG
Poland POL
Romania ROM
Sicilia SIC
South European Russia RUS
Spain SPA
Sweden SWE
Switzerland SWI
Ukraine UKR
Altay ALT ASIA-TEMPERATE
Inner Mongolia CHI
Japan JAP
Kazakhstan KAZ
Korea KOR
Lebanon-Syria LBS
Manchuria CHM
North Caucasus NCS
Primorye PRM
Transcaucasus TCS
Türkiye TUR
Yakutiya YAK

Not drawn on the map: Great Britain. We hold no public-domain boundary for this region, so it is listed rather than guessed at.

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 27 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Capraea vulgaris Opiz
  • Nectopix caprea (L.) Raf.
  • Salix aurigerana Lapeyr.
  • Salix bakko Kimura
  • Salix caprea f. elongata (Nakai) Kitag.
  • Salix caprea f. subglabra (Chang & Skvortzov) Kitag.
  • Salix caprea subsp. hultenii Kom.
  • Salix caprea var. lanatifolia Björnstr.
  • Salix caprea var. pendula T.Lang
  • Salix coaetanea (Hartm.) Flod.
  • Salix hallisanensis H.Lév.
  • Salix hallisanensis f. elongata Nakai
  • Salix hultenii Flod.
  • Salix hultenii f. angustifolia (Kimura) Kimura
  • Salix hultenii var. angustifolia Kimura
  • Salix ishidoyana Nakai
  • Salix lanata Vill.
  • Salix proteifolia J.Forbes
  • Salix raddeana var. subglabra Y.L.Chang & Skvortsov
  • Salix sphacelata Sm.
  • Salix tomentosa Ser.
  • Salix tomentosa var. androgyna Ser.
  • Salix tomentosa var. macrophylla Ser.
  • Salix tomentosa var. rotundifolia Ser.

and 3 more.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.