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.