Salix nipponica

Franch. & Sav.

Salicaceae Edible: Inner bark, Leaves 32 iNaturalist observations

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Summary

Salix nipponica is a species of willow native to Eastern Asia.

Description

A deciduous tree that is not frost tender. Dioecious species requiring both male and female plants for seed production, pollinated by bees. Grows in light sandy, medium loamy, and heavy clay soils with mildly acid to neutral pH. Requires full sun and prefers moist or wet soil.

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 all else fails. Young shoots can be cooked, though they 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. This gives it anodyne and febrifuge properties.

Distribution

It is a temperate plant.

Where It Grows

Asia, Japan,

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. This species is quite possibly no more than a form of S. triandra. 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 is ripe 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 and rooted in a sheltered outdoor bed or planted directly into their permanent position with a weed-suppressing mulch; success is very easy. Plant out into permanent positions in autumn. Half-ripe cuttings can be taken June to August and rooted in a frame, also very easily.

Other Uses

Based on the closely related S. triandra, the flexible stems are highly valued for basket making. The plant is usually coppiced annually for this purpose, though coppicing every two years yields thicker poles suitable for uprights. A yellow dye is obtained from the bark and young leaves.