Salix irrorata

{{Short description|Species of plant in the genus Salix}}

{{Speciesbox

|status = LC

|status_system = IUCN3.1

|status_ref = {{Cite iucn |title=Salix irrorata |author=Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) & IUCN SSC Global Tree Specialist Group |name-list-style=amp |page= e.T166540512A166548009 |date=2020 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T166540512A166548009.en |access-date=11 April 2024}}

| image = Rocky Mountain flowers - an illustrated guide for plant-lovers and plant-users (1920) (14598276899).jpg

| image_caption = Figure 4: Salix irrorata leaf

| image2 = Salix irrorata.jpg

| genus = Salix

| species = irrorata

| authority = AnderssonÖfvers. Kongl. Vetensk.-Akad. Förh. 15: 117 (1858)

}}

Salix irrorata, the dewystem willow, blue-stem willow, or sandbar willow, is a species of willow native to the US states of Wyoming, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico, and to northern Mexico.{{cite web |url=http://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:777869-1 |title=Salix irrorata Andersson |author= |date=2017 |website=Plants of the World Online |publisher=Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |access-date=3 September 2020 }} In spite of its bluestem willow common name, its stems are red, but a white coat develops that makes them appear bluish. A bushy shrub that prefers moist areas, in a garden setting it needs coppicing to both keep it from growing overlarge and to maintain the attractive bark coloration.{{cite web |url=https://www.chicagobotanic.org/plantcollections/plantfinder/salix_irrorata--bluestem_willow |title=Salix irrorata Bluestem Willow |author= |date=2020 |website=chicagobotanic.org |publisher=Chicago Botanic Garden |access-date=3 September 2020 |quote= }} It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit as an ornamental.{{cite web|title= Salix irrorata blue-stem willow |url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/16257/Salix-irrorata/Details |publisher=The Royal Horticultural Society |accessdate=3 September 2020 }}