Willow
Salix alba
Botanical family: Salicaceae
The genus Salix brings together many species, from the large white willow (Salix alba) to the goat willow (Salix caprea), all enjoying the damp soils of watersides. Its bark contains salicin, the historic precursor of salicylic acid, whose traditional use against pain and fevers goes back to antiquity.
Sun to partial shade
Moist, cool to waterlogged, tolerates heavy soils
Likes moist soils, tolerates temporary flooding
Very hardy (withstands -25 °C depending on species)
Overwinters in your zone
Role in permaculture
A fast-growing pioneer tree of wetlands, the willow is among the very first resources for bees in spring. Easy to propagate from cuttings, it also serves as a windbreak hedge, in fascine work to stabilise banks, and its abundant biomass lends itself to mulching or the production of ramial wood.
Insects attracted or useful
Documented synergies
Relationships backed by a named source, with their real scope. A synergy without a named reference has no place here, no “it is said that…”.
A precious resource through its EARLINESS: from February–March, the catkins offer pollen and nectar when the colonies come out of overwintering and almost nothing else is in bloom. The value lies in this timing, not in a quantified amount. Note: in the goat willow, wind can also ensure part of the fertilisation.
scientific study
- · Dötterl S. et al. (2014), PLOS ONE 9(3):e93421, DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0093421
The willow is the near-exclusive host plant of several specialist solitary bees, which gather their pollen only on it and locate its flowers by smell. These bees can only feed their larvae during its brief flowering: a high conservation value for these species, even if no garden density is quantified.
scientific study
- · Dötterl S. et al. (2014), PLOS ONE 9(3):e93421, DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0093421 (Salix caprea et Andrena vaga)
The willow (like the poplar) accumulates certain heavy metals, cadmium, zinc, in its tissues, especially when grown as a regularly harvested coppice: it's a reference genus of phytoremediation. But the cleanup is SLOW, significant over decades and many harvests, a marginal effect at the scale of a garden. No extraction yield is cited here, the detailed article not being accessible.
institutional source
- · Phytoextraction Cd/Zn par Salix en taillis courte rotation : Plant and Soil (2006), DOI 10.1007/s11104-006-9149-5
Seasons & availability
Increased from cuttings of dormant shoots taken in winter, willow flowers early in spring in catkins precious to bees; its withies and rods are cut in winter, from November to February, once the leaves have fallen and the sap has gone down.
Available: January, February, November, December.
Guidance for the oceanic / temperate climate; it may vary with your region, altitude, exposure and growing method.
Sources
- Plants For A Future, « Salix alba » (pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Salix+alba)
- Filière Osier, « Récolte de l'osier brut » (filiereosier.be/vannerie/types-de-vannerie/vannerie-traditionnelle/recolte-osie-brut)
- Woodland Trust, « Willow, white (Salix alba) » (woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/british-trees/a-z-of-british-trees/white-willow)
Nutritional & medicinal properties
For educational purposes. Not a substitute for medical advice. Effects depend on the form, the dose and personal context.
Precautions & contraindications
The same precautions as aspirin, of which it is the ancestor: contraindicated in case of allergy to salicylates or NSAIDs, including asthma with salicylate sensitivity, of active gastroduodenal ulcer, of clotting disorders, when on anticoagulants, and in children and adolescents under 18 (risk of Reye's syndrome). As a precaution, to be avoided during pregnancy (contraindicated in the 3rd trimester) and breastfeeding. It is no substitute for a dosed medicine: any self-medication warrants the advice of a pharmacist. Sources: EMA/HMPC, “European Union herbal monograph on Salix [various species including S. purpurea L., S. daphnoides Vill., S. fragilis L.], cortex” (EMA/HMPC/80630/2016, 2017); Vidal, “Saule blanc (Salix alba)”.
Species & varieties
The best-known species and varieties in France.
Species
Voices of peoples
Paraphrases attributed to their documented sources. Never an invented quote.
Ancient Greek medicine · Ionian Greece, 5th–4th centuries BC
Hippocrates, in the 5th century BC, recommended willow bark and leaves to relieve pains and fevers. The knowledge crosses the centuries: medieval monks, herbalists, 19th-century physicians. In 1828, Johann Andreas Buchner isolated salicin from the bark; in 1899, Bayer marketed aspirin, a synthetic derivative of that same molecule. One of the most used medicines in the world took root under a willow.
Corpus hippocraticum (traité « Affections internes ») ; histoire pharmaceutique documentée, Buchner (1828), Piria (1838), Bayer (1899) pour l'acide acétylsalicylique.
Before you forage
This plant is often gathered from the wild. Only pick what is abundant, never a protected species, and never uproot a whole plant (roots) without the landowner's permission. Rules vary by country and region, check locally.
Key takeaways
- • Prefers sun to partial shade exposure.
- • Ideal soil: moist, cool to waterlogged, tolerates heavy soils.