Salix 'Forbiana' - .
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Salix 'Forbiana' is a deciduous Shrub at a fast rate. It is not frost tender. The species is 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 is pollinated by Bees. The plant is not self-fertile. Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and can grow in heavy clay soil. Suitable pH: mildly acid and neutral soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers moist or wet soil.
Edible Uses
Inner bark - raw or cooked. It can be dried, ground into a powder and added to cereal flours for use in making bread etc. A famine food, it is only used when all else fails. Young shoots - cooked. They are not very palatable.
Medicinal Uses
Anodyne Febrifuge. The fresh bark of all members of this genus contains salicin, which probably decomposes into salicylic acid (closely related to aspirin) in the human body. This is used as an anodyne and febrifuge.
Distribution
A hybrid of garden origin.
Cultivation
Succeeds in most soils, including wet, ill-drained or intermittently flooded soils, but prefers a damp, heavy soil in a sunny position. Rarely thrives on chalk. An exceptionally vigorous and fast-growing plant. Hybridizes freely with other members of this genus. Although the flowers are produced in catkins early in the year, they are pollinated by bees and other insects rather than by the wind. A hybrid of garden origin, probably involving S. atrocinerea x S. purpurea x S. viminalis. Only female forms of this hybrid are known, but occasional male flowers are produced in the lower scales. Plants in this genus are notably susceptible to honey fungus. Dioecious. Male and female plants must be grown if seed is required.
Propagation
Seed - must be surface sown as soon as it is ripe in late spring. It has a very short viability, perhaps as little as a few days. Cuttings of mature wood of the current year's growth, November to February in a sheltered outdoor bed or planted straight into their permanent position and given a good weed-suppressing mulch. Very easy. Plant into their permanent positions in the autumn. Cuttings of half-ripe wood, June to August in a frame. Very easy.
Other Uses
Basketry. The stems are very flexible and are used in basket making. They are too coarse for fine basket work. The plant is usually coppiced annually when grown for basket making, though it is possible to coppice it every two years if thick poles are required as uprights.
