Plants

88 total plants

Willow

Common name

Willow

Latin name

Salix, alba; S. pentandra; S. petiolaris; S. purpurea; S. rubens; S. smithiana; S. viminalis

Characters

Willows are difficult to identify to species because hybrids are common. They produce catkins, both staminate and pistillate ones in early spring. They are rarely pendulous. The pussy willow is a common sight along April roadsides. These are the staminate catkins of one of several species before the flowers are fully mature. They appear long before the leaves. Leaves are variable among species but generally have long silky pubescence below, at least when young. Their margins are serrulate.

Habit

Trees or shrubs

Edible Portion

Although not consumed as food, an extract from the bark yielded salicylic acid which in 1928 was processed into acetylsalicylic acid or ASA, aspirin. The willows listed are also superior for basketry. The shrubs are pruned by coppicing or pollarding to force them to send up long straight shoots useful as a 'basket willow'. Willow baskets are still made with many patterns and designs available for different types of baskets.

Habitat

Riparian sites or edges of fields, openings, near old home sites. Our basket willows are all introduced species brought over from Europe centuries ago and now naturalized.

Geography

Western half of the province

Used For

In Nova Scotia, Joleen Gordon has written several curatorial reports and books on basketry, including the use of willow.