Salix arenaria
L.
Sand Willow
iNaturalist· cc-by-nc
(c) Charcos Companhia, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
iNaturalist· cc-by-nc
(c) Charcos Companhia, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
iNaturalist· cc-by-nc
(c) Charcos Companhia, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
Summary
Source: WikipediaA deciduous shrub growing to 1 m tall, hardy to UK zone 6. Dioecious species requiring both male and female plants for seed production, pollinated by bees. Grows in light sandy, medium loamy, or heavy clay soils in mildly acid to neutral pH. Requires full sun, prefers moist or wet soil, and tolerates maritime exposure.
Description
A deciduous shrub growing to 1 m tall, hardy to UK zone 6. Dioecious species requiring both male and female plants for seed production, pollinated by bees. Grows in light sandy, medium loamy, or heavy clay soils in mildly acid to neutral pH. Requires full sun, prefers moist or wet soil, and tolerates maritime exposure.
Edible Uses
The inner bark can be eaten raw or cooked, or dried and ground into a powder to blend with cereal flour for bread-making. It has a very bitter flavour and is regarded as a famine food, used only when nothing else is available. Young shoots can be eaten raw or cooked but are not very palatable.
Medicinal Uses
The fresh bark contains salicin, which probably decomposes into salicylic acid (closely related to aspirin) in the human body, and is used as an anodyne and febrifuge.
Distribution
It is a temperate plant.
Where It Grows
Europe,
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. 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. 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 ripens in late spring, as viability is very short — perhaps only a few days. Cuttings of mature wood from the current year's growth can be taken November to February, either in a sheltered outdoor bed or planted straight into their permanent position with a weed-suppressing mulch; these root very easily. Plant out permanently in autumn. Half-ripe cuttings taken June to August in a frame also root very easily.
Other Uses
The plant has a spreading root system that makes it an effective soil binder on sand dunes. It also functions as a dynamic accumulator.
Notes
There are about 300 Salix species.
References (3)
- Kremer, B.P., 1995, Shrubs in the Wild and in Gardens. Barrons. p 125.
- Plants for a Future database, The Field, Penpol, Lostwithiel, Cornwall, PL22 0NG, UK. http://www.scs.leeds.ac.uk/pfaf/
- Sp. pl. 2:1019. 1753
