# Black Willow (Salix nigra)

> Black willow, Salix nigra: a medium tree of 10 to 80 feet for zones 4 to 9, how fast it grows, where it grows wild, and the natives we grow for the same ground.

Blue Whale Trees, a native tree nursery in the United States. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/species/black-willow/

![Black willow twig with long yellow catkins among narrow, pointed new leaves](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/species/black-willow-1000.jpg?v=faaf4569 "Black willow in flower at Manassas Battlefield Park, Virginia, on April 15, 2017. It flowers as its leaves come out or just before.")
*Photo: Judy Gallagher, [CC BY 2.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0) ([source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ABlack_Willow_-_Salix_nigra%2C_Manassas_Battlefield_Park%2C_Manassas%2C_Virginia_(39006964211).jpg))*

Medium tree, 10 to 80 feet, zones 4 to 9; full sun or part shade; average or wet ground.

We do not grow black willow, and it is not in our shop. This page gathers what our tools say about it and the natives we grow for the same ground.

## At a glance

| Fact | Black Willow |
| --- | --- |
| Other names | Gulf black willow, southwestern black willow, scythe-leaved willow |
| Form | Medium tree |
| Height, feet | 10 to 80 |
| Spread, feet | Up to 60 |
| Zones | 4 to 9 |
| Sun | Full sun or part shade |
| Soil moisture | Average or wet ground |
| Growth | Fast |
| Leaves | Deciduous |
| Traits | Wildlife value, honey tree, salt tolerant, erosion control |
| Flowers | February to June |
| Fruit | Capsules, April to July |
| First crop | About 10 years (best from 25 to 75) |
| Pollination | Separate male and female trees. Male and female flowers grow on separate trees, so a female tree bears seed only with a male nearby. |
| Lifespan | Lives up to 105 years. |
| Transplanting | The Morton Arboretum's page on black willow marks it as one that transplants well. |
| Black walnut | Tolerant, on the Morton Arboretum's list as “willow” |
| Ground | Stream banks, floodplain forests, swamps and wet flats |
| Native in | 36 states and the District of Columbia |

Black willow is native in 36 states and the District of Columbia: [Alabama](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AL), [Arkansas](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AR), [Colorado](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=CO), [Connecticut](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=CT), [Delaware](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=DE), [Florida](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=FL), [Georgia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=GA), [Illinois](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IL), [Indiana](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IN), [Iowa](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IA), [Kansas](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=KS), [Kentucky](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=KY), [Louisiana](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=LA), [Maine](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=ME), [Maryland](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MD), [Massachusetts](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MA), [Michigan](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MI), [Minnesota](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MN), [Mississippi](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MS), [Missouri](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MO), [Nebraska](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NE), [New Hampshire](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NH), [New Jersey](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NJ), [New York](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NY), [North Carolina](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NC), [Ohio](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OH), [Oklahoma](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OK), [Pennsylvania](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=PA), [Rhode Island](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=RI), [South Carolina](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=SC), [Tennessee](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=TN), [Texas](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=TX), [Vermont](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=VT), [Virginia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=VA), [West Virginia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WV), [Wisconsin](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WI) and [the District of Columbia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=DC). The states are the USDA PLANTS Database's records, with the native range read from Silvics of North America and NatureServe Explorer.

## What our tools say

- [How fast it grows and how big it gets, by site](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md?species=black-willow): the growth estimator
- [Whether it suits your zone, sun and soil](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md?species=black-willow): the planting-site check
- [How far from a house, wires and a septic field](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md?species=black-willow&near=house,septic,pavement,wires,boundary,tree): the planting-distance tool
- [What grows with it in the wild and in a yard](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=black-willow): the companion species tool
- [When to plant it where you live](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md?species=black-willow): the planting-window tool
- [When it flowers and fruits, month by month](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=black-willow): the bloom and fruit calendar
- [How to sow its seed, with dates for your place](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md?species=black-willow): the seed sowing planner
- [How many to plant for a crop of seed](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md?plants=black-willow:5): the pollination planner
- [Whether one you have can be moved, and what the move takes](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/transplant/index.html.md?species=black-willow): the transplant planner
- [How old one is, from its trunk](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/tree-age/index.html.md?species=black-willow): the tree age estimator
- [How a big one scores against the champion trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/big-tree/index.html.md?species=black-willow): the big-tree measurer

## For the same ground, we grow

- [River Birch](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/river-birch/index.html.md) (*Betula nigra*): medium tree, 40 to 70 feet, zones 3 to 9. Shares stream banks, floodplain forests, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [Peachleaf Willow](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/peachleaf-willow/index.html.md) (*Salix amygdaloides*): medium tree, 35 to 60 feet, zones 2 to 8. Shares stream banks, floodplain forests, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [Water Locust](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/water-locust/index.html.md) (*Gleditsia aquatica*): medium tree, 40 to 60 feet, zones 6 to 10. Shares stream banks, floodplain forests, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [Ogeechee Tupelo](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/ogeechee-tupelo/index.html.md) (*Nyssa ogeche*): medium tree, 25 to 45 feet, zones 6 to 9. Shares stream banks, floodplain forests, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [Swamp White Oak](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/swamp-white-oak/index.html.md) (*Quercus bicolor*): medium tree, 50 to 60 feet, zones 3 to 8. Shares stream banks, floodplain forests, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [American Elm](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-elm/index.html.md) (*Ulmus americana*): large tree, 60 to 80 feet, zones 2 to 9. Shares stream banks, floodplain forests, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [Every companion of black willow in the companion species tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=black-willow)

## Read from

Its figures come from Silvics of North America, NC State Extension, the Missouri Botanical Garden, the Morton Arboretum, the Wildflower Center, the Forest Service's Fire Effects Information System, the Woody Plant Seed Manual, the USDA PLANTS Database, the US Forest Service and the University of Illinois Extension.