Willow (redirected from Salix)

willow, common name for some members of the Salicaceae, a family of deciduous trees and shrubs of worldwide distribution, especially abundant from north temperate to arctic areas. The family consists of two genera, Salix and Populus, both of which are propagated easily by cuttings, grow rapidly, and characteristically bear male and female flowers in catkins on separate plants. Many plants of the narrower-leaved willow genus (Salix) flourish in cold, wet ground; willows grow farther north than any other woody angiosperm (flowering plant). The poplars (genus Populus) usually have heart-shaped or ovate leaves; they include the cottonwoods, aspens, and many species specifically named poplar. The cottonwoods (sometimes also called poplars) characteristically have seeds that are covered with fibrous coats so that when they are released at maturity they clump together in cottony balls. Cottonwoods were a welcome sight to the pioneers pushing westward, for they marked the streams in the otherwise treeless Great Plains. Some of the poplars, especially the aspens, have flattened leaf stalks that permit the pendulous leaves to quiver in the slightest breeze (hence the name quaking aspen). The quaking, or golden, aspen is a common deciduous tree of the mountains of the W United States; it is often the first tree to reforest burned-over woodlands. Because the lumber of this family is so soft it finds little use except for paper pulp (mostly the poplars), for charcoal, and especially in basketry and wickerwork (mostly the willows). The bushes and their twigs used in basketry are often called osiers. Willow buds and bark have also been used medicinally; the chemical predecessor of aspirin was originally isolated from the bark of a willow. The trees are valuable in erosion control along riverbanks because of their rapid growth. Economically the family is most noted for its many species planted as ornamentals, e.g., the Lombardy and the silver, or white, poplars, now naturalized in North America from Eurasia; the weeping willow, indigenous to China; and the pussy willow of North America. Populus gileadensis, an ancient horticultural species whose original form is unknown, is one of the plants called balm of Gilead. Yellow poplar is a name sometimes used for the unrelated tulip tree of the magnolia family. Willows are classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Magnoliopsida, order Salicales, family Salicaceae.

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willow

Weeping willow (Salix babylonica).

(credit: A to Z Botanical Collection-EB Inc.,)

Any shrub or tree of the genus Salix, family Salicaceae, native mostly to northern temperate regions, and common in lowland and marshy areas. Willows are valued as ornamentals and for their shade, erosion control, and timber. Certain species yield salicin, the source of salicylic acid used in pain relievers. All species have alternate, usually narrow leaves, catkins, and seeds with long, silky hairs. Pussy willows, the male form of several shrubby species, have woolly catkins that form before the leaves appear and are considered one of the first signs of spring. Weeping willows have long drooping branches and leaves. Several species grow as small matted woody plants on the tundra.

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willow

1. any of numerous salicaceous trees and shrubs of the genus Salix, such as the weeping willow and osiers of N temperate regions, which have graceful flexible branches, flowers in catkins, and feathery seeds

2. the whitish wood of certain of these trees

3. something made of willow wood, such as a cricket or baseball bat

4. a machine having a system of revolving spikes for opening and cleaning raw textile fibres

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willow [′wil·ō]

(botany)

A deciduous tree and shrub of the genusSalix, order Salicales; twigs are often yellow-green and bear alternate leaves which are characteristically long, narrow, and pointed, usually with fine teeth along the margins.

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willow

tree emblem of rejected affection. [Plant Symbolism: “Tit-Willow,” Mikado; “Willow Song,” Othello]

See : Love, Spurned

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Willow

(Salix), a genus of plants of the family Salicaceae. They are trees, shrubs, or shrublets with spirally placed, for the most part short-stemmed, leaves. The flowers are unisexual and dioecious and lack a perianth. They sit in the axils of covering scales and are gathered into dense clusters called catkins. The male flowers usually have one to eight (up to 12) stamens and the female, one pistil with a monothalamous ovary and two often delaminated stigmata. The fruit is a capsule containing numerous seeds with tufted pappi. Willows are pollinated by insects (mainly bees). There are approximately 300 species, predominantly in the temperate zone of Eurasia and North America.

The USSR has approximately 120 species; there are also many interspecies hybrids. The willow has many names in Russia: the large trees and shrubs that grow primarily in the west of the European part of the USSR are called vetla (white willow, Salix alba), verba (daphne willow, S. daphnoides), sheliuga (sharp-leaved willow, S. acutifolia), and rakita (goat willow, S. cap-red); bushes are called loza or lozniak (French willow, S. triandra); and the usually shrubby species of the eastern regions of the European part of the USSR, Siberia, and Middle Asia are called tal or tal’nik (purple osier, S. purpurea).

The polar and high-altitude willows are low-growing, spreading shrublets that reach a height of only a few centimeters—for example, the polar willow (S. polaris) and the dwarf willow (S. herbacea). But there are willows that grow 30–40 m tall and over 0.5 m in diameter.

The majority of willows are small trees (10–15 m) or shrubs. Their ability to produce adventitious roots permits willows to be easily propagated from cuttings and even from twigs (except for the goat willow, S. capred). The seeds lose their germinating capacity within several days; only the bay willow (S. pentan-drd) seeds remain vital until the following spring.

Willow wood is very light and soft and rots readily. It is used for making small hand-carved articles. In unforested areas willow is used as a building material. The withes of some shrubby willows (osier, purple willow and French willow) are used for weaving baskets and making furniture. The leafy branches of the willow are used as fodder for animals (especially goats and sheep). The bark of many willows is used for tanning leathers (the gray, goat, and white willows). The bark of some species contains the glucoside salicin, which has medicinal value. Many species are ornamental (common osier, S. viminalis). Willows are used for reinforcing sands (sharp-leaved willow, Caspian willow), the banks of canals and ditches, and the slopes of dams (white willow, brittle willow); in antierosion plantings in forest-steppe and steppe regions (white, brittle, and osier willows); and as field-protecting and roadside forest strips on moister soils.

REFERENCES

Morozov, I. R. Ivy SSSR, ikh ispol’zovanie i primenenie v zashchitnom lesorazvedenii. Moscow-Leningrad, 1950.
Pravdin, L. F. Iva, ee kul’tura i ispol’zovanie. Moscow, 1952.
Levitskii, I. I. Iva i ee ispol’zovanie. Moscow, 1965.
Skvortsov, A. K. Ivy SSSR. Moscow, 1968.

A. K. SKVORTSOV