Salix viminalisL.

Common osierOsiercommon osierbasket willow

WFO wfo-0000929391 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Salix viminalis, photographed by Liubov Ilminska
fig. a Liubov Ilminska, CC0 1.0 / 2022-05-25 / obs. 201692334
Salix viminalis, photographed by Stephen James McWilliam
fig. b Stephen James McWilliam, CC0 1.0 / obs. 201562565
Salix viminalis, photographed by Stephen James McWilliam
fig. c Stephen James McWilliam, CC0 1.0 / obs. 197090639
Salix viminalis, photographed by Stephen James McWilliam
fig. d Stephen James McWilliam, CC0 1.0 / obs. 195129207
Salix viminalis, photographed by Susan Marley
fig. e Susan Marley, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 193181479
Salix viminalis, photographed by Stephen James McWilliam
fig. f Stephen James McWilliam, CC0 1.0 / obs. 194245274
Salix viminalis, photographed by Stephen James McWilliam
fig. g Stephen James McWilliam, CC0 1.0 / obs. 194245254
Salix viminalis, photographed by Stephen James McWilliam
fig. h Stephen James McWilliam, CC0 1.0 / obs. 194245298

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 28 botanical countries

Regions where Salix viminalis is native: Altay, Buryatiya, Irkutsk, Kazakhstan, Krasnoyarsk, Mongolia, Tuva, West Siberia, Xinjiang, Yakutiya, Albania, Austria, Baltic States, Belarus, Bulgaria, Central European Russia, Czechia-Slovakia, East European Russia, France, Germany, Hungary, North European Russia, Northwest European Russia, NW. Balkan Pen., Poland, Romania, Switzerland, Ukraine AltayBuryatiyaIrkutskKazakhstanKrasnoyarskMongoliaTuvaWest SiberiaXinjiangYakutiyaAlbaniaAustriaBaltic StatesBelarusBulgariaCentral European RussiaCzechia-SlovakiaEast European RussiaFranceGermanyHungaryNorth European RussiaNorthwest European RussiaNW. Balkan Pen.PolandRomaniaSwitzerlandUkraine
Native distribution of Salix viminalis, 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.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Albania ALB EUROPE
Austria AUT
Baltic States BLT
Belarus BLR
Bulgaria BUL
Central European Russia RUC
Czechia-Slovakia CZE
East European Russia RUE
France FRA
Germany GER
Hungary HUN
North European Russia RUN
Northwest European Russia RUW
NW. Balkan Pen. YUG
Poland POL
Romania ROM
Switzerland SWI
Ukraine UKR
Altay ALT ASIA-TEMPERATE
Buryatiya BRY
Irkutsk IRK
Kazakhstan KAZ
Krasnoyarsk KRA
Mongolia MON
Tuva TVA
West Siberia WSB
Xinjiang CHX
Yakutiya YAK

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 16 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.

  • Diplima viminalis (L.) Raf.
  • Salix linearis Turcz.
  • Salix longifolia Lam.
  • Salix polia C.K.Schneid.
  • Salix rossica Nasarow
  • Salix rufescens Nasarow
  • Salix russica Nasarow
  • Salix serotina Pall.
  • Salix splendens Nasarow
  • Salix strobilacea (E.L.Wolf) Nasarow
  • Salix veriviminalis Nasarow
  • Salix viminalis subsp. veriviminalis Hyl.
  • Salix viminalis subsp. viminalis
  • Salix viminalis var. semiviminalis Poljakov
  • Salix viminalis var. strobilacea E.L.Wolf
  • Salix virescens Vill.

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.