Smith's Willow (Salix x smithiana) — Edible Plant

Summary

A deciduous tree growing to 9 m tall. Dioecious, flowering March to April and pollinated by bees; requires both sexes for seed production and is not self-fertile. Hardy to UK zone 5, not frost tender. Tolerates light sandy, medium loamy, and heavy clay soils. Prefers mildly acid to neutral pH. Requires full sun and moist or wet conditions; succeeds in waterlogged or intermittently flooded soils. Functions as a dynamic accumulator.

Description

A deciduous tree growing to 9 m tall. Dioecious, flowering March to April and pollinated by bees; requires both sexes for seed production and is not self-fertile. Hardy to UK zone 5, not frost tender. Tolerates light sandy, medium loamy, and heavy clay soils. Prefers mildly acid to neutral pH. Requires full sun and moist or wet conditions; succeeds in waterlogged or intermittently flooded soils. Functions as a dynamic accumulator.

Edible Uses

The inner bark can be eaten raw or cooked, or dried and ground into a powder to blend with cereal flours for bread-making. It has a very bitter flavour and is considered a famine food, used only as a last resort. Young shoots can be cooked but are not very palatable.

Medicinal Uses

The fresh bark contains salicin, which likely breaks down into salicylic acid (closely related to aspirin) in the body. This makes it useful as an anodyne and febrifuge, and this property is shared by all members of the genus.

Distribution

It is a temperate plant.

Where It Grows

EUROPE: Altay, Austria, Baltic States, Buryatiya, Central European Russia, East European Russia, Germany, Irkutsk, Kazakhstan, Khabarovsk, Krasnoyarsk, Mongolia, North European Russia, Poland, South European Russia, Tuva, Xinjiang, Yakutiya.

Cultivation

(Salix caprea x viminalis). 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. The root system is rather aggressive and can cause problems with drains. It is best not to grow this species within 10 metres of buildings. 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 extremely short — possibly just a few days. As a hybrid, it will not breed true from seed. Cuttings of mature current-year wood taken November to February can be rooted in a sheltered outdoor bed or planted directly into their permanent position with a weed-suppressing mulch; establishment is very easy. Cuttings of half-ripe wood taken June to August in a frame are also very easy to root.

Other Uses

The stems are highly flexible and well suited to basket making. Plants are typically coppiced annually for basket work, though coppicing every two years yields thicker poles suitable for use as uprights. The species tolerates wet, poorly drained, or intermittently flooded soils and functions as a dynamic accumulator.