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Glite Dictionary
Salix caprea

Salix caprea

9.9
A willow tree with broad leaves and soft fuzzy flowers in spring
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : sauce cabruno
  • The Salix caprea produces soft, silvery catkins in early spring.

Examples

  • Many people recognize Salix caprea by its distinctive broad leaves and fuzzy flowers.

  • Gardeners planted Salix caprea along the riverbank to prevent erosion.

  • The Salix caprea blooms beautifully in early spring.

  • Many gardeners love the Salix caprea for its fluffy catkins.

  • Many people recognize Salix caprea by its distinctive broad leaves and fuzzy flowers.

  • The Salix caprea produces soft, silvery catkins in early spring.

  • Many gardeners love the Salix caprea for its fluffy catkins.

Synonyms

goat willow
vsSalix caprea
  • UK
9.1

A willow tree with many branches, broad leaves, and soft silvery flower clusters that grows in Europe and Asia

is the scientific name for the same species rather than the common name

Surface Forms

Salix caprea singular
Salix capreas plural

Morphology

Salix + caprea

This is a Latin binomial: while 'Salix' corresponds to the willow genus, 'caprea' is a Latin species epithet (not an English lexical item and here marked as not found). A B1 learner who knows the English word 'willow' would not be able to derive the specific species meaning (goat/pussy willow) from the constituents without botanical or Latin knowledge, so the expression is not compositionally transparent.

Etymology

Salix caprea gets its name from Latin words: salix means 'willow' and caprea may come from 'capra', the word for 'goat'. One popular story says goats liked to eat its young shoots, so people called it the 'goat willow' and also the 'pussy willow' because of its soft, furry flowers, and that is why the name points to this kind of willow today.