The Eared Willow (salix aurita) is a deciduous shrub growing to 2.5m. It will succeed in most soils, including wet, ill-drained or intermittently flooded soils and nutritionally poor soils. The plant prefers acid and neutral soils.and to be in a sunny position. Thriving in the most adverse conditions, it is a useful plant for populating dry barren sites.
It is in flower in April, and the seeds ripen from May to June. The flowers are dioecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but only one sex is to be found on any one plant so both male and female plants must be grown if seed is required) and although the flowers are produced in catkins early in the year, they are pollinated by bees and other insects rather than by the wind
