Salix x rubra
Huds.
iNaturalist· cc-by-nc
(c) Ondřej Obrtlík, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
iNaturalist· cc-by-nc
(c) Ondřej Obrtlík, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
iNaturalist· cc-by-nc
(c) Ondřej Obrtlík, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
Summary
Source: WikipediaA deciduous shrub reaching 6 m tall. Dioecious with flowers pollinated by bees, requiring both male and female plants for seed production. Not self-fertile. Hardy to UK zone 5, not frost tender. Grows in light sandy, medium loamy, and heavy clay soils. Prefers mildly acid to neutral pH. Requires full sun and moist or wet soil; succeeds in waterlogged or intermittently flooded conditions. Functions as a dynamic accumulator.
Description
A deciduous shrub reaching 6 m tall. Dioecious with flowers pollinated by bees, requiring both male and female plants for seed production. Not self-fertile. Hardy to UK zone 5, not frost tender. Grows in light sandy, medium loamy, and heavy clay soils. Prefers mildly acid to neutral pH. Requires full sun and moist or wet soil; succeeds in waterlogged or intermittently flooded conditions. Functions as a dynamic accumulator.
Edible Uses
The inner bark can be eaten raw or cooked, or dried, ground into a powder, and mixed with cereal flour for bread-making. It has a very bitter flavour and is a famine food, used only when all else fails. Young shoots can be cooked but are not very palatable.
Medicinal Uses
The fresh bark of all willows contains salicin, which likely breaks down into salicylic acid (closely related to aspirin) in the body. This gives it properties as an anodyne and febrifuge.
Distribution
It is a temperate plant.
Where It Grows
Falklands,
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. There are a number of cultivars, selected for their use in basket making. 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. As a hybrid species, it will not breed true from seed. 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 good weed-suppressing mulch; this is very easy. Plant out in autumn. Half-ripe cuttings taken June to August and rooted in a frame are also very easy.
Other Uses
The stems are long, very flexible, and highly durable, making them particularly valued for basket making. Plants are usually coppiced annually, though coppicing every two years produces thicker poles suitable for uprights. The plant succeeds in wet, poorly drained, or intermittently flooded soils and is a dynamic accumulator.
Notes
There are about 300 Salix species.
Synonyms
Also Known As
Green-leaved willow, Red osier, Red willow, Red salix, Tulip willow.
References (3)
- Fl. angl. 364. 1762
- Plants for a Future database, The Field, Penpol, Lostwithiel, Cornwall, PL22 0NG, UK. http://www.scs.leeds.ac.uk/pfaf/
- Upson, R., & Lewis R., 2014, Updated Vascular Plant Checklist and Atlas for the Falkland Islands. Falklands Conservation and Kew.
