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Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the
genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...
''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically
deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, ...
trees and
shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from tree ...
s, found primarily on moist
soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support life. Some scientific definitions distinguish ''dirt'' from ''soil'' by restricting the former ...
s in cold and temperate regions. Most species are known as willow, but some narrow-leaved shrub species are called osier, and some broader-leaved species are referred to as sallow (from
Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th ...
''sealh'', related to the
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
word ''salix'', willow). Some willows (particularly
arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar regions of Earth, polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenla ...
and
alpine Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National P ...
species) are low-growing or creeping shrubs; for example, the dwarf willow (''Salix herbacea'') rarely exceeds in height, though it spreads widely across the ground.


Description

Willows all have abundant watery
bark Bark may refer to: * Bark (botany), an outer layer of a woody plant such as a tree or stick * Bark (sound), a vocalization of some animals (which is commonly the dog) Places * Bark, Germany * Bark, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland Arts, e ...
sap, which is heavily charged with
salicylic acid Salicylic acid is an organic compound with the formula HOC6H4CO2H. A colorless, bitter-tasting solid, it is a precursor to and a metabolite of aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid). It is a plant hormone, and has been listed by the EPA Toxic Substa ...
, soft, usually pliant, tough wood, slender branches, and large, fibrous, often
stolon In biology, stolons (from Latin '' stolō'', genitive ''stolōnis'' – "branch"), also known as runners, are horizontal connections between organisms. They may be part of the organism, or of its skeleton; typically, animal stolons are external s ...
iferous
root In vascular plants, the roots are the organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often below the su ...
s. The roots are remarkable for their toughness, size, and tenacity to live, and roots readily sprout from aerial parts of the plant.


Leaves

The leaves are typically elongated, but they might also be round to oval, frequently with serrated edges. Most species are
deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, ...
; semi-
evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, whic ...
willows with coriaceous leaves are rare, e.g. ''Salix micans'' and ''S. australior'' in the eastern
Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...
. All the buds are lateral; no absolutely terminal bud is ever formed. The buds are covered by a single scale. Usually, the bud scale is fused into a cap-like shape, but in some species it wraps around and the edges overlap. The leaves are simple, feather-veined, and typically linear-lanceolate. Usually they are serrate, rounded at base, acute or acuminate. The leaf petioles are short, the stipules often very conspicuous, resembling tiny, round leaves, and sometimes remaining for half the summer. On some species, however, they are small, inconspicuous, and caducous (soon falling). In color, the leaves show a great variety of greens, ranging from yellowish to bluish color. Willows are among the earliest woody plants to leaf out in spring and the last to drop their leaves in autumn. Leafout may occur as early as February depending on the climate and is stimulated by air temperature. If daytime highs reach for a few consecutive days, a willow will attempt to put out leaves and flowers. Leaf drop in autumn occurs when day length shortens to approximately ten hours and 25 minutes, which varies by latitude (as early as the first week of October for boreal species such as ''S. alaxensis'' and as late as the third week of December for willows growing in far southern areas).


Flowers

With the exception of '' Salix martiana'', willows are dioecious, with male and female
flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechanis ...
s appearing as
catkin A catkin or ament is a slim, cylindrical flower cluster (a spike), with inconspicuous or no petals, usually wind-pollinated (anemophilous) but sometimes insect-pollinated (as in '' Salix''). They contain many, usually unisexual flowers, arrang ...
s on separate plants; the catkins are produced early in the spring, often before the leaves. The staminate (male) flowers are without either
calyx Calyx or calyce (plural "calyces"), from the Latin ''calix'' which itself comes from the Ancient Greek ''κάλυξ'' (''kálux'') meaning "husk" or "pod", may refer to: Biology * Calyx (anatomy), collective name for several cup-like structures ...
with
corolla Corolla may refer to: *Corolla (botany), the petals of a flower, considered as a unit *Toyota Corolla, an automobile model name *Corolla (headgear) A ''corolla'' is an ancient headdress in the form of a small circlet or crown.pistillate (female) flowers are also without calyx or corolla, and consist of a single ovary accompanied by a small, flat nectar gland and inserted on the base of a scale which is likewise borne on the rachis of a catkin. The ovary is one-celled, the style two-lobed, and the ovules numerous.


Taxonomy

The scientific use of the genus name ''Salix'' originates with
Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, ...
in 1753. The modern concept of types did not exist at the time, so types for Linnaeus' genera had to be designated later. The
type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specim ...
, i.e., the species on which the genus name is based, is '' Salix alba'', based on a conserved type. The generic name ''Salix'' comes from
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
and was already used by the Romans for various types of willow.Helmut Genaust: Etymologisches Wörterbuch der botanischen Pflanzennamen (German). 3rd ed., completely revised and expanded. Nikol, Hamburg 2005, (reprint from 1996). pg. 552 A theory is that the word is ultimately derived from a Celtic language, ''sal'' meaning 'near' and ''lis'' meaning 'water', alluding to their habitat. Willows are classified into subgenera though what they should be is in flux. Morphological studies generally divide the species into 3 or 5 subgenera: Salix (though some split off subgenera Longifoliae and Protitae), Chamaetia, and Vetrix. Phylogenetic studies have suggested that Chamaetia and Vetrix be in one clade. The oldest fossils of the genus are known from the early
Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', ...
of North America, with the earliest occurrences in Europe during the Early
Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but t ...
.


Selected species

The genus ''Salix'' is made up of around 400 species of deciduous trees and
shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from tree ...
s. Examples include: *''
Salix aegyptiaca ''Salix aegyptiaca'', known as the Persian willow, is a large shrub or small tree from the genus of willow (''Salix'') with red branches that are tomentose in the first two years and leaves up to 15 centimeters long. The natural range of the spe ...
'' L. – musk willow *'' Salix alba'' L. – white willow *'' Salix amygdaloides'' Andersson – peachleaf willow *'' Salix arctica'' Pall. – Arctic willow *'' Salix babylonica'' L. – Babylon willow, Peking willow or weeping willow *''
Salix bebbiana ''Salix bebbiana'' is a species of willow indigenous to Canada and the northern United States, from Alaska and Yukon south to California and Arizona and northeast to Newfoundland and New England. Common names include beaked willow, long-beaked ...
'' Sarg. – beaked willow, long-beaked willow, or Bebb's willow *'' Salix caprea'' L. – goat willow or pussy willow *'' Salix cinerea'' L. – grey willow *''
Salix discolor ''Salix discolor'', the American pussy willow or glaucous willow, is a species of willow native to North America, one of two species commonly called pussy willow. It is native to the vast reaches of Alaska as well as the northern forests and wet ...
'' Muhl. – American pussy willow or glaucous willow *'' Salix euxina'' I.V.Belyaeva – eastern crack willow *''
Salix exigua ''Salix exigua'' (sandbar willow, narrowleaf willow, or coyote willow; syn. ''S. argophylla, S. hindsiana, S. interior, S. linearifolia, S. luteosericea, S. malacophylla, S. nevadensis,'' and '' S. parishiana'') is a species of willow native to m ...
'' Nutt. – sandbar willow, narrowleaf willow, or coyote willow * ''Salix'' × ''fragilis'' L. – common crack willow *'' Salix glauca'' L. – gray willow, grayleaf willow, white willow, or glaucous willow *'' Salix herbacea'' L. – dwarf willow, least willow or snowbed willow *'' Salix humboltiana'' Willd. - Humbolt's willow, native to central and South America *'' Salix integra'' Thunb. *''
Salix laevigata ''Salix laevigata'', the red willow or polished willow, is a species of willow native to the southwestern United States and northern Baja California. Biology The red willow is a small tree up to in height. Like most other willows, it commonly ...
'' Bebb – red willow or polished willow *''
Salix lasiolepis ''Salix lasiolepis'' (arroyo willow) is a species of willow native to western North America. Distribution The core range of the arroyo willow includes most of California, including the California Coast Ranges, Arizona, Klamath Mountains, Peni ...
'' Benth. – arroyo willow *'' Salix microphylla'' Schltdl. & Cham. *''
Salix mucronata ''Salix mucronata'' (commonly called the Cape silver willow or Safsaf willow) is a tall, graceful, Semi-Deciduous willow tree. It grows along riverbanks in South Africa, and is used for a wide range of traditional medicines. The Cape willow is d ...
'' Andersson - Safsaf willow, a species from southern Africa *'' Salix nigra'' Marshall – black willow *'' Salix paradoxa'' Kunth *'' Salix pierotii'' Miq. – Korean willow *'' Salix purpurea'' L. – purple willow or purple osier *''
Salix scouleriana ''Salix scouleriana'' (Scouler's willow; syn. ''S. brachystachys'' Benth., ''S. capreoides'' Anderss., ''S. flavescens'' Nutt., ''S. nuttallii'' Sarg., ''S. stagnalis'' Nutt.) is a species of willow native to northwestern North America. Other nam ...
'' Barratt ex Hook. – Scouler's willow * ''Salix sepulcralis'' group – hybrid willows *''
Salix tetrasperma ''Salix tetrasperma'', commonly called Indian willow, is a medium-sized tree of wet and swampy places, shedding its leaves at the end of monsoon season. It flowers after leafing. The bark is rough, with deep, vertical fissures and the young shoot ...
'' Roxb. – Indian willow *''
Salix triandra ''Salix triandra'', with the common names almond willow, almond-leaved willow or black maul willow, is a species of willow native to Europe and Western and Central Asia. It is found from south-eastern England east to Lake Baikal, and south to S ...
'' L. – almond willow or almond-leaved willow *'' Salix viminalis'' L. – common osier


Ecology

Willows are shade tolerant and typically short-lived. They require disturbances to outcompete conifers or large deciduous species. The seeds are tiny, plentiful, carried by wind and water, and viable only for a few days; they require warm and moist conditions to take root. The plants can also reproduce vegetatively from decapitated stumps and branches. Willows produce a modest amount of nectar from which bees can make
honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...
, and are especially valued as a source of early pollen for bees. Various animals browse the foliage or shelter amongst the plants. Beavers use willows to build dams. The trees are used as food by the
larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. ...
e of some species of
Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) is an order of insects that includes butterflies and moths (both are called lepidopterans). About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 families and 46 superfamilies, 10 percent of the total described speci ...
, such as the mourning cloak butterfly. Ants, such as wood ants, are common on willows inhabited by aphids, coming to collect aphid honeydew, as sometimes do
wasp A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder ...
s.


Pests and diseases

Willow species are hosts to more than a hundred aphid species, belonging to ''Chaitophorus'' and other genera, forming large colonies to feed on plant juices, on the underside of leaves in particular. '' Corythucha elegans'', the willow lace bug, is a bug species in the family
Tingidae The Tingidae are a family of very small () insects in the order Hemiptera that are commonly referred to as lace bugs. This group is distributed worldwide with about 2,000 described species. They are called lace bugs because the pronotum and for ...
found on willows in North America. '' Rhabdophaga rosaria'' is a type of gall found on willows.
Rust Rust is an iron oxide, a usually reddish-brown oxide formed by the reaction of iron and oxygen in the catalytic presence of water or air moisture. Rust consists of hydrous iron(III) oxides (Fe2O3·nH2O) and iron(III) oxide-hydroxide (FeO( ...
, caused by fungi of genus ''
Melampsora ''Melampsora'' is a genus of Basidiomycota Basidiomycota () is one of two large divisions that, together with the Ascomycota, constitute the subkingdom Dikarya (often referred to as the "higher fungi") within the kingdom Fungi. Members are ...
'', is known to damage leaves of willows, covering them with orange spots.


Conservation

Some Native Americans allowed wildfires to burn and set fires intentionally, allowing new stands to form. A small number of willow species were widely planted in Australia, notably as
erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is d ...
-control measures along watercourses. They are now regarded as invasive weeds which occupy extensive areas across southern Australia and are considered 'Weeds of National Significance'. Many catchment management authorities are removing and replacing them with native trees.


Cultivation

Almost all willows take root very readily from cuttings or where broken branches lie on the ground. The few exceptions include the goat willow ('' Salix caprea'') and peachleaf willow ('' Salix amygdaloides''). One famous example of such growth from cuttings involves the poet
Alexander Pope Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 O.S. – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early 18th century. An exponent of Augustan literature, ...
, who begged a twig from a parcel tied with twigs sent from Spain to Lady Suffolk. This twig was planted and thrived, and legend has it that all of England's weeping willows are descended from this first one. Willows are extensively cultivated around the world. They are used in
hedge A hedge or hedgerow is a line of closely spaced shrubs and sometimes trees, planted and trained to form a barrier or to mark the boundary of an area, such as between neighbouring properties. Hedges that are used to separate a road from adjoi ...
s and landscaping.


Hybrids and cultivars

Willows are very cross-compatible, and numerous hybrids occur, both naturally and in cultivation. A well-known ornamental example is the
weeping willow ''Salix babylonica'' (Babylon willow or weeping willow; ) is a species of willow native to dry areas of northern China, but cultivated for millennia elsewhere in Asia, being traded along the Silk Road to southwest Asia and Europe.Flora of Chin ...
(''Salix × sepulcralis''), which is a hybrid of Peking willow ('' Salix babylonica'') from China and white willow (''Salix alba'') from Europe. The widely planted Chinese willow '' Salix matsudana'' is now considered a synonym of ''S. babylonica''. Numerous cultivars of ''Salix'' have been developed and named over the centuries. New selections of cultivars with superior technical and ornamental characteristics have been chosen deliberately and applied to various purposes. Many
cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture ...
s and unmodified species of ''Salix'' have gained the
Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nor ...
's
Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established annual award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. History The Award of Garden Merit ...
. Most recently, ''Salix'' has become an important source for bioenergy production and for various
ecosystem service Ecosystem services are the many and varied benefits to humans provided by the natural environment and healthy ecosystems. Such ecosystems include, for example, agroecosystems, forest ecosystem, grassland ecosystems, and aquatic ecosystems. ...
s. Names of hybrids and cultivars were until recently (2021) compiled by a working party of the UN FAO, th
International Cultivar Registration Authority (ICRAs) for the genus ''Salix'' (willows)
but it is no longer active.


Uses

The
Quinault people The Quinault ( or ) are a group of Native American peoples from western Washington in the United States. They are a Southwestern Coast Salish people and are enrolled in the federally recognized Quinault Tribe of the Quinault Reservation. The ...
made the bark into a twine which sometimes served as harpoon line. The wood was used by some Native American tribes to start fires by friction, the shoots to weave baskets, and both the branches and stems to build various items including fishing weirs.


Medicinal

The leaves and bark of the willow have been mentioned in ancient texts from
Assyria Assyria ( Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the A ...
,
Sumer Sumer () is the earliest known civilization in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia (south-central Iraq), emerging during the Chalcolithic and early Bronze Ages between the sixth and fifth millennium BC. It is one of the cradles of ...
and
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...
and in
Ancient Greece Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cu ...
the physician
Hippocrates Hippocrates of Kos (; grc-gre, Ἱπποκράτης ὁ Κῷος, Hippokrátēs ho Kôios; ), also known as Hippocrates II, was a Greek physician of the classical period who is considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history o ...
wrote about its medicinal properties in the fifth century BC. Interpreting
Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the ...
n
cuneiform Cuneiform is a logo- syllabic script that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Middle East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. It is named for the characteristic wedge- ...
texts is a challenge, especially when looking for something as specific as a species of plant being used to treat a recognisable condition. Some 5,000 medical prescriptions have been identified from Babylonian writings of the 7th to 3rd centuries BC, involving 1,300 drugs from 340 different plants. Whether any of these relate to willow is uncertain. The seeds of the Haluppu-tree were recommended in the Sumerian narrative of '' Gilgameš, Enkidu and the Nether World'' as treatment for infertility, but the "Haluppu-tree" could have been oak, poplar or willow. The ancient Egyptian Ebers Papyrus mentions willow (of uncertain species) in three remedies. One, as part of an elaborate recipe for a poultice to "make the ''met'' supple," which involved 36 other ingredients including "fruit of the dompalm, beans and amaa grains." The meaning of ''met'' is uncertain, but it may be something to do with the nervous system. The second is as part of a treatment for the "Great Debility," when "rush from the green willow tree" is combined with ass's semen, fresh bread, herbs of the field, figs, grapes and wine. Finally, it is used as a stiffening agent in a concoction of "fat flesh, figs, dates, incense, garlic and sweet beer" to put the heart into proper working order and make it take up nourishment. The Roman author Aulus Cornelius Celsus only mentions willow once: the leaves, pounded and boiled in vinegar, were to be used as treatment for uterine prolapse, but it is unclear what he considered the therapeutic action to be; it is unlikely to have been pain relief, as he recommended
cauterization Cauterization (or cauterisation, or cautery) is a medical practice or technique of burning a part of a body to remove or close off a part of it. It destroys some tissue in an attempt to mitigate bleeding and damage, remove an undesired growth, or ...
in the following paragraph.
Nicholas Culpeper Nicholas Culpeper (18 October 1616 – 10 January 1654) was an English botanist, herbalist, physician and astrologer.Patrick Curry: "Culpeper, Nicholas (1616–1654)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (Oxford, UK: OUP, 2004) His book ...
, in ''The Complete Herbal'', gives many uses for willow, including to staunch wounds, to "stay the heat of lust" in man or woman, and to provoke urine ("if stopped"), but he makes no mention of any supposed analgesic properties. His recommendation to use the burnt ashes of willow bark, mixed with vinegar, to "take away warts, corns, and superfluous flesh," seems to correspond with modern uses of
salicylic acid Salicylic acid is an organic compound with the formula HOC6H4CO2H. A colorless, bitter-tasting solid, it is a precursor to and a metabolite of aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid). It is a plant hormone, and has been listed by the EPA Toxic Substa ...
. William Turner's account, written about 1597, focuses on the ability of the leaves and bark to "stay the spitting of blood, and all other fluxes of blood," if boiled in wine and drunk, but adds a treatment for fever, saying: "the green boughs with the leaves may very well be brought into chambers and set about the beds of those that be sick of fevers, for they do mightily cool the heat of the air, which thing is a wonderful refreshing to the sick patients." In 1763, Reverend Edward Stone, of Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, England, sent a letter to the
Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
describing his experiments with powdered bark of white willow (''Salix alba''). He had noticed the willow bark tasted bitter, like 'Peruvian Bark' ( cinchona), which was used to treat fevers, and he speculated that the willow would have a similar effect. Over several years he tested it on as many as fifty patients and found it to be highly effective (especially when mixed with cinchona). Whether this was a real effect or not is unknown, but although Stone's remedy was experimented with by others at the time, it was never adopted by medical practitioners. During the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...
, Confederate forces also experimented with willow as a cure for malaria, without success. In his novel The Mysterious Island (1875), the French novelist
Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet, and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the '' Voyages extra ...
outlined the state of scientific knowledge concerning medicinal uses of willow when one of his characters, Herbert (Harbert) Brown, was suffering from a fever induced by a bullet wound: "The bark of the willow has, indeed, been justly considered as a ''succedaneum'' for Peruvian bark, as has also that of the horse-chestnut tree, the leaf of the holly, the snake-root, etc.", he wrote. In the story, Herbert is treated with powdered willow bark to no effect, and is saved when a supply of quinine is discovered. It is clear in the novel that the causes of fevers were poorly understood, and there is no suggestion at all of any possible analgesic effect from the use of willow. The first lasting evidence that salicylate, from willow and other plant species, might have real medicinal uses came in 1876, when the Scottish physician Thomas MacLagan experimented with salicin as a treatment for acute rheumatism, with considerable success, as he reported in ''
The Lancet ''The Lancet'' is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal and one of the oldest of its kind. It is also the world's highest-impact academic journal. It was founded in England in 1823. The journal publishes original research articles ...
''. Meanwhile, German scientists tried salicylic acid in the form of sodium salicylate with less success and more severe side effects. The treatment of rheumatic fever with salicin gradually gained some acceptance in medical circles. The discovery of acetanilide, in the 1880s, gave rise to an 'acetylation' craze, where chemists experimented with adding an acetyl group to various aromatic organic compounds. In 1897,
Felix Hoffmann Felix Hoffmann (21 January 1868 – 8 February 1946) was a German chemist notable for re-synthesising diamorphine (independently from C.R. Alder Wright who synthesized it 23 years earlier), which was popularized under the Bayer trade name ...
created acetylsalicylic acid (in his case derived from the '' Spiraea'' plant), which was found in 1899 to have an
analgesic An analgesic drug, also called simply an analgesic (American English), analgaesic (British English), pain reliever, or painkiller, is any member of the group of drugs used to achieve relief from pain (that is, analgesia or pain management). It ...
effect. It was named "
Aspirin Aspirin, also known as acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) used to reduce pain, fever, and/or inflammation, and as an antithrombotic. Specific inflammatory conditions which aspirin is used to treat inc ...
" by Hoffmann's employer Bayer AG. The discovery of aspirin is therefore only indirectly connected to willow. In the late 1990s,
Daniel Moerman Daniel Ellis Moerman (born 1941) is an American medical anthropologist and ethnobotanist, and an emeritus professor of anthropology at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. He is known for his work relating to Native American ethnobotany and the pl ...
reported many uses of willow by Native Americans. One modern field guide claims that Native Americans across the Americas relied on the willow as a staple of their medical treatments, using the bark to treat ailments such as sore throat and tuberculosis, and further alleging that "Several references mention chewing willow bark as an analgesic for headache and other pain, apparently presaging the development of aspirin in the late 1800s." Herbal uses of willow have continued into modern times. In the early 20th century, Maud Grieve described using the bark and the powdered root of white willow (''Salix alba'') for its tonic, antiperiodic and astringent qualities and recommended its use in treating dyspepsia, worms, chronic diarrhoea and dysentery. Like other herbalists, she makes no mention of it having any analgesic effect, despite widespread awareness of aspirin by this time, and she considered tannin to be the active constituent. It was long after the invention of aspirin that the idea emerged that willow bark is an effective painkiller. It may often be based on the belief that willow actually contains aspirin. Articles asserting that the ancients used willow for this purpose have been published in academic journals such as the British Journal of Haematology. There are now many papers, books and articles repeating the claim that the ancients used willow for pain relief, and numerous willow-based products can be purchased for this purpose.


Manufacturing

Some of humans' earliest manufactured items may have been made from willow. A fishing net made from willow dates back to 8300 BC. Basic crafts, such as baskets, fish traps, wattle fences and
wattle and daub Wattle and daub is a composite building method used for making walls and buildings, in which a woven lattice of wooden strips called wattle is daubed with a sticky material usually made of some combination of wet soil, clay, sand, animal dung a ...
house walls, were often woven from osiers or
withies A withy or withe (also willow and osier) is a strong flexible willow stem, typically used in thatching, basketmaking, gardening and for constructing woven wattle hurdles.
(rod-like willow shoots, often grown in pollards). One of the forms of Welsh coracle boat traditionally uses willow in the framework. Thin or split willow rods can be woven into wicker, which also has a long history. The relatively pliable willow is less likely to split while being woven than many other woods, and can be bent around sharp corners in basketry. Willow wood is also used in the manufacture of boxes, brooms, cricket bats, cradle boards, chairmans and other furniture, dolls, willow flutes,
poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in ...
, sweat lodges, toys, turnery, tool handles,
wood veneer In woodworking, veneer refers to thin slices of wood and sometimes bark, usually thinner than 3 mm (1/8 inch), that typically are glued onto core panels (typically, wood, particle board or medium-density fiberboard) to produce flat pane ...
, wands and whistles. In addition, tannin,
fibre Fiber or fibre (from la, fibra, links=no) is a natural or artificial substance that is significantly longer than it is wide. Fibers are often used in the manufacture of other materials. The strongest engineering materials often incorporate ...
, paper,
rope A rope is a group of yarns, plies, fibres, or strands that are twisted or braided together into a larger and stronger form. Ropes have tensile strength and so can be used for dragging and lifting. Rope is thicker and stronger than similarl ...
and string can be produced from the wood. Willow is also used in the manufacture of double basses for backs, sides and linings, and in making splines and blocks for bass repair.


Horticulture

An aqueous extract of willow bark is used as a fungicide on horticultural nurseries in the European Union and United Kingdom. The willow bark extract is approved as a 'basic substance' product in the European Union and United Kingdom for the control of scab, leaf peach curl and powdery mildew on grapes, apples and peach crops.


Weeds

Willow roots spread widely and are very aggressive in seeking out moisture; for this reason, they can become problematic when planted in residential areas, where the roots are notorious for clogging French drains, drainage systems, weeping tiles, septic systems,
storm drain A storm drain, storm sewer (United Kingdom, U.S. and Canada), surface water drain/sewer (United Kingdom), or stormwater drain (Australia and New Zealand) is infrastructure designed to drain excess rain and ground water from impervious surfa ...
s, and sewer systems, particularly older, tile, concrete, or ceramic pipes. Newer, PVC sewer pipes are much less leaky at the joints, and are therefore less susceptible to problems from willow roots; the same is true of
water supply Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavors or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes. Public water supply systems are crucial to properly functioning societies. Th ...
piping.


Others

* Warfare: Surprisingly, throughout World War II, willows were a British strategic material. Everything dropped by parachutes was dropped in baskets – light and strong: they could be made in any shape, and bounced on impact. British production of willows was about 2000 tonnes per year by some 630 manufacturers employing 7000 basket makers.
Lawrence Ogilvie Lawrence Ogilvie (5 July 1898 – 16 April 1980) was a Scottish plant pathologist. From 1923, in his first job and aged only 25, when agriculture was Bermuda's major industry, Ogilvie identified the virus that had devastated the islands' high-v ...
(a plant pathologist who had studied and written his 1920s
Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
master's degree thesis about willow diseases) worked at
Long Ashton Research Station Long Ashton Research Station (LARS) was an agricultural and horticultural government-funded research centre located in the village of Long Ashton near Bristol, UK. It was created in 1903 to study and improve the West Country cider industry an ...
, near
Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city, Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Glouces ...
and was much involved with these willows and their diseases. * Art: Willow is used to make
charcoal Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, ...
(for drawing) as well as living sculptures, woven from live willow rods into shapes such as domes and tunnels. Willow stems are used to weave baskets and three-dimensional sculptures of animals and other figures. Willow stems are also used to create garden features, such as decorative panels and obelisks. * Energy: There have been experiments or mathematical models in using willows for
biomass Biomass is plant-based material used as a fuel for heat or electricity production. It can be in the form of wood, wood residues, energy crops, agricultural residues, and waste from industry, farms, and households. Some people use the terms bio ...
or
biofuel Biofuel is a fuel that is produced over a short time span from biomass, rather than by the very slow natural processes involved in the formation of fossil fuels, such as oil. According to the United States Energy Information Administration ...
, in energy forestry systems, due to its fast growth. Programs in other countries are being developed through initiatives such as the Willow Biomass Project in the US, and the Energy Coppice Project in the UK. Willow may also be grown to produce
charcoal Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, ...
. * Environment: There has been research into possibly using willows for future
biofiltration Biofiltration is a pollution control technique using a bioreactor containing living material to capture and biologically degrade pollutants. Common uses include processing waste water, capturing harmful chemicals or silt from surface runoff, a ...
of wastewater (i.e. phytoremediation and land reclamation), although this is not commercially viable. They are used for streambank stabilisation ( bioengineering), slope stabilisation,
soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support life. Some scientific definitions distinguish ''dirt'' from ''soil'' by restricting the former ...
erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is d ...
control, shelterbelt and windbreak, and wildlife habitat. Willows are often planted on the borders of streams so their interlacing roots may protect the bank against the action of the water. The roots are often larger than the stem which grows from them. * Food: Poor people at one time often ate willow catkins that had been cooked to form a mash.Hageneder, Fred (2001). ''The Heritage of Trees''. Edinburgh : Floris. . p.172 The inner bark can be eaten raw or cooked, as can the young leaves and underground shoots.


Culture

The willow is one of the four species associated with the Jewish festival of
Sukkot or ("Booths, Tabernacles") , observedby = Jews, Samaritans, a few Protestant denominations, Messianic Jews, Semitic Neopagans , type = Jewish, Samaritan , begins = 15th day of Tishrei , ends = 21st day of Tis ...
, or the Feast of Tabernacles, cited in Leviticus 23:40. Willow branches are also used during the synagogue service on
Hoshana Rabbah Hoshana Rabbah ( arc, הוֹשַׁעְנָא רַבָּא, , Great Hoshana/Supplication) is the seventh day of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, the 21st day of the month of Tishrei. This day is marked by a special synagogue service, the Hoshana R ...
, the seventh day of Sukkot, or the Feast of Tabernacles. In
Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
, a willow branch is one of the chief attributes of Kwan Yin, the ''
bodhisattva In Buddhism, a bodhisattva ( ; sa, 𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀢𑁆𑀢𑁆𑀯 (Brahmī), translit=bodhisattva, label=Sanskrit) or bodhisatva is a person who is on the path towards bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood. In the Early Buddhist schools ...
'' of compassion. Christian churches in northwestern Europe and Ukraine and Bulgaria often used willow branches in place of palms in the ceremonies on Palm Sunday. In China, some people carry willow branches with them on the day of their Tomb Sweeping or Qingming Festival. Willow branches are also put up on gates and/or front doors, which they believe help ward off the evil spirits that wander on Qingming. Legend states that on Qingming Festival, the ruler of the underworld allows the spirits of the dead to return to earth. Since their presence may not always be welcome, willow branches keep them away. In traditional pictures of the Goddess of Mercy
Guanyin Guanyin () is a Bodhisattva associated with compassion. She is the East Asian representation of Avalokiteśvara ( sa, अवलोकितेश्वर) and has been adopted by other Eastern religions, including Chinese folk religion. She ...
, she is often shown seated on a rock with a willow branch in a vase of water at her side. The Goddess employs this mysterious water and the branch for putting demons to flight. Taoist witches also use a small carving made from willow wood for communicating with the spirits of the dead. The image is sent to the nether world, where the disembodied spirit is deemed to enter it, and give the desired information to surviving relatives on its return. The willow is a famous subject in many East Asian nations' cultures, particularly in pen and ink paintings from China and Japan. A '' gisaeng'' (Korean geisha) named Hongrang, who lived in the middle of the
Joseon Dynasty Joseon (; ; Middle Korean: 됴ᇢ〯션〮 Dyǒw syéon or 됴ᇢ〯션〯 Dyǒw syěon), officially the Great Joseon (; ), was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting just over 500 years. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye in July 1392 and r ...
, wrote the poem "By the willow in the rain in the evening", which she gave to her parting lover (Choi Gyeong-chang). Hongrang wrote:
... I will be the willow on your bedside.
In Japanese tradition, the willow is associated with ghosts. It is popularly supposed that a ghost will appear where a willow grows. Willow trees are also quite prevalent in folklore and myths. In English folklore, a willow tree is believed to be quite sinister, capable of uprooting itself and stalking travellers. The Viminal Hill, one of the Seven Hills of Rome, derives its name from the Latin word for osier, ''viminia'' (pl.). Hans Christian Andersen wrote a story called "Under the Willow Tree" (1853) in which children ask questions of a tree they call "willow-father", paired with another entity called " elder-mother". "Green Willow" is a Japanese ghost story in which a young samurai falls in love with a woman called Green Willow who has a close spiritual connection with a willow tree. "The Willow Wife" is another, not dissimilar tale. "Wisdom of the Willow Tree" is an Osage Nation story in which a young man seeks answers from a willow tree, addressing the tree in conversation as 'Grandfather'.


See also

* '' Aravah'', the Hebrew name of the willow, for its ritual use during the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles *
Pollarding Pollarding is a pruning system involving the removal of the upper branches of a tree, which promotes the growth of a dense head of foliage and branches. In ancient Rome, Propertius mentioned pollarding during the 1st century BCE. The practice ...
, technique of severe pruning or knotting of trees *
Sail A sail is a tensile structure—which is made from fabric or other membrane materials—that uses wind power to propel sailing craft, including sailing ships, sailboats, windsurfers, ice boats, and even sail-powered land vehicles. Sails ma ...
, Ogham letter meaning "willow" *
Willow water Willow water is a traditional method to extract the rooting hormone indolebutyric acid from willow (''Salix'') trees, which are believed to be present in sufficient quantities to stimulate root growth.Ohio State University Extension,
, using the rooting hormone
indolebutyric acid Indole-3-butyric acid (1''H''-indole-3-butanoic acid, IBA) is a white to light-yellow crystalline solid, with the molecular formula C12H13NO2. It melts at 125 °C in atmospheric pressure and decomposes before boiling. IBA is a plant hormone ...
from willow branches to stimulate root growth in new cuttings


Citations


General and cited references

* Keeler, Harriet L. (1990). ''Our Native Trees and How to Identify Them''. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. Pages 393–395. . * Newsholme, C. (1992). ''Willows: The Genus Salix''. . * * Warren-Wren, S. C. (1992). ''The Complete Book of Willows''. .


External links


International Register of Cultivars of Salix L. (willow)

Global Cultivation of Willows:
* * {{Authority control Dioecious plants Medicinal plants Non-timber forest products Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus