Willow white latin name. White willow: description, medicinal properties and possible contraindications

White willow or silver willow is a shrub or deciduous tree belonging to the Willow family (Salicaceae), popularly the plant is also called willow, willow, white fly, rustling tree, red willow or willow.

Currently, the plant is distributed throughout Europe (except the Far North), Western Siberia, Asia Minor and Central Asia, North America. White willow grows mainly on moist, silty and sandy soils, sometimes forming thickets. The plant can withstand prolonged flooding, it is found in floodplains, near water bodies, on the edges of damp forests, along roads.

Botanical description

The height of the plant can reach 25 m, the trunks of young trees are covered with bark. light gray color, in old white willow trees the bark is dark gray or almost black, with a lot of cracks. The crown of the tree is spreading, the branches are drooping, very flexible, the old ones are bare red tones, and the young branches are green or brown, covered with narrow-lanceolate or lanceolate leaves with short petioles, dark green color above and a silvery lower surface. White willow blooms in April or May simultaneously with the appearance of leaves, the flowers of the plant are very small, heterosexual, greenish-yellow in color, collected in cylindrical earrings. The fruits of the plant in the form of a bivalve single-nested box with very small seeds appear in May-June, a month after flowering. Willow, being an excellent honey plant, is bred in many places as cultivated plant. The hanging lower branches of the white willow often reach the ground, so in folk art it is sometimes called the "weeping" one, symbolizing sadness and sorrow.

Since ancient times, people have used willow for household needs, as well as in traditional medicine. From flexible wood, plants produce containers, furniture, and build fences. Bast fibers are used to make ropes and ropes, boats, shuttles, and troughs are made from the trunk of a white willow. The branches and bark of the plant are used to dye fabrics and skin in brown and yellow colors. White willow bark and flowers are also used for medicinal purposes.

Procurement of raw materials

For the manufacture of medicines, the bark of the white willow is mainly used. It is collected from trunks and branches of young trees of 5-6 years of age in early spring, before the leaves appear. The bark, cut into pieces, is first dried in direct sunlight, and then scattered in a thin layer is dried in rooms with good ventilation, at a temperature not exceeding 40 ° C. The dried bark loses its flexibility and should break when pressed, it has a bitter taste and no smell. You can store finished raw materials in a tightly closed paper container for up to 4 years, in a dry room, away from heat sources.

Composition and useful properties

White willow bark contains salicin glycoside, which is a precursor acetylsalicylic acid. The presence of this substance in the composition of the bark of the plant provides its anti-inflammatory, antipyretic and analgesic effect. In addition, in chemical composition The bark contains flavonoids, ascorbic acid, tannins and resins. In medical practice, the diuretic, hemostatic, astringent, antiseptic and antirheumatic properties of the plant are also used.

Indications for use

Preparations made on the basis of willow bark are used externally and taken orally. Externally, white willow is used for gargling and oral cavity with tonsillitis, gingivitis, periodontal disease, stomatitis; as a rubdown tincture for various skin diseases, varicose veins, and also for severe sweating of the feet. Preparations from the plant are taken orally for rheumatism, fever, dysentery, gout, gastritis, dyspepsia, neurosis, bleeding from internal organs, acute respiratory infections, typhoid, gynecological diseases. The bark of the plant is also used as an anthelmintic drug, and was previously used along with cinchona bark as an antimalarial agent.

Application methods

As an anti-febrile, analgesic and diuretic, the bark of the plant is often used in the form of tea, the recipe of which is as follows: one teaspoon of crushed bark is poured into a quarter liter cold water and slowly bring to a boil. Dosage - 2 cups per day. When preparing an infusion of bark, 1 tablespoon of raw materials is poured with 2 cups of boiling water and infused in a thermos, the infusion is taken in three doses.

Contraindications

It is not recommended to use preparations based on white or silver willow for children under 16 years of age with suspected colds, pregnant women, people suffering from bronchial asthma, bradycardia, high acidity of gastric juice, stomach ulcers, constipation. It is forbidden to use willow bark simultaneously with aspirin, vitamins, amino acids, cough and cold remedies, laxatives.

Before using white willow bark products, it is advisable to consult with your doctor.

This tree of the willow family is commonly known as white or silver willow, willow, willow and willow. It prefers damp, damp places and grows along the banks of rivers, ponds and reservoirs. Willows often form entire groves that stretch along the water's edge for considerable distances. Thanks to a well-branched root system, trees are used to strengthen the banks of reservoirs and ravines.

White willow can be described as a large dioecious tree with a large crown that grows up to 20-30 meters in height. This distinguishes it from other species of the family, most of whose representatives are shrubs. Willow is photophilous, frost-resistant and not too demanding on soils. She prefers sandy or sandy-muddy wet soil, tolerates urban conditions well and can live up to 100 years.

The crown of the white willow is sprawling, tent-shaped. The trunk is powerful, covered with dark gray bark with cracks. The leaves are simple, petiolate, with stipules.
They are green above and white below. The tree is an early and valuable honey plant. Small flowers are collected in cylindrical brush-earrings. Willow blooms simultaneously with the appearance of leaves, in April-May, and in May-June seeds ripen.

Reproduction, cultivation and care

The tree can propagate by seeds, but since they quickly lose their germination capacity, this breeding method is practically not used. White willow shoots rarely give, therefore, they are used vegetative propagation stem cuttings, which are cut before bud break. The cuttings take root quickly. They can first be placed in water to form roots, and then planted in the ground.

When planting for each seedling, prepare small pits 0.5x0.5 m in size, which must be filled with a mixture of soil, peat, compost and. Choose a sunny, well-lit place. Young seedlings need watering, top dressing mineral fertilizers and crown formation.

Healing properties of white willow

This tree is widely known in folk medicine. White willow bark is used as a medicinal raw material, medicinal properties which are due to the content of such substances:

vitamin C;
flavones;
lignin;
catechins;
anthocyanins;
glycoside salicin;
tannins.

White willow bark is harvested from March to May, when sap flow is slow and it separates well from the branches. For harvesting, shoots are used at the age of 2-3 to 6-7 years. The bark is then dried until it becomes brittle. Medicinal raw materials prepared in this way can be stored and used for 4 years.

A decoction of willow bark is used as an antipyretic for febrile conditions, rheumatism, inflammation of the mucous membranes of the stomach and intestines. It has disinfectant, astringent properties and is used as an anti-inflammatory agent for stomatitis, gingivitis, upper catarrhs. respiratory tract, angina and acute respiratory infections.

The decoction has hemostatic, diuretic and choleretic qualities. Externally, it is used to gargle the throat and mouth, it is used for foot baths for sweating, skin diseases, and. The medicinal properties of white willow make it possible to use powder from its bark as a hemostatic agent.

The use of white willow bark in folk medicine

To prepare a decoction 1 tbsp. a spoonful of crushed raw materials should be poured into an enamel bowl with 200 ml of boiling water. Then stand in a water bath for 20 minutes, strain without waiting for cooling, and bring boiled water to the original volume.

For external use, in addition to decoction, you can prepare an infusion of willow bark. To do this, a glass of dry crushed raw materials is poured with a liter of boiling water and infused for 30 minutes. The resulting infusion is added to the basin with hot water designed for foot baths. This remedy not only relieves the condition with varicose veins, but is also effective against sweating of the legs.

A decoction of willow bark is used for hair loss. For its preparation 1 tbsp. a spoonful of crushed dry bark and 1 tbsp. a spoonful of burdock roots is poured into 0.5 liters of water and placed on water bath for 20 minutes. After that insist for 2 hours and filter. Ready decoction is used to wash hair when it falls out.

To the use inside the bark of white willow, contraindications are:

Sensitivity to salicylates.
Pregnancy and lactation.
Peptic ulcer of the stomach and duodenum.
Allergic diseases and bronchial asthma.

It is not recommended to use this remedy for the treatment of children and adolescents before they reach 16 years of age. Another of the contraindications is the simultaneous use of drugs prescribed for colds, cough drops, amino acids, antacids, vitamins and aspirin.

The use of white willow in needlework

Flexible rods of white weeping willow are used for the manufacture of hedges and various products. self made. This exciting activity is a common type of needlework. Baskets, trays, decor items and even furniture woven from willow twigs will decorate the interior and bring a piece of living warmth and natural atmosphere into it.

For weaving, use annual and biennial willow shoots. They should be harvested in early spring, when growth has not yet begun, or in late autumn, when it has already stopped. The rods must be straight, flexible, elastic, without bark damage and with healthy wood.

Learning to weave simple products is not difficult, you just need to be patient and willow twigs. This tree will give you a passion for long years, and the experience and skill gained can be used to make more complex items, such as furniture. Wicker wicker furniture is beautiful, reliable, easy to maintain, and can last for many years.

White willow in landscape design

This unpretentious tree, which we also know as willow, willow or white tristis willow, is used in ornamental gardening for landscaping parks and squares. The conditions for willow are especially good where there are reservoirs, large or small. She is valued for enough fast growth and original shape crowns. This allows you to successfully use the tree in the formation of landscape gardening.

As you can see in the photo, the white willow has a spreading crown with hanging branches. It looks great both in single plantings and in landscape compositions. This tree will be a spectacular decoration of the site in English style, which provides for asymmetry, free planning and maximum approximation to natural conditions.

Long before Christianity, our ancestors revered the white willow. Willow rods were used as a remedy against the evil eye, and a broom made of them served as a kind of amulet in the house. Such importance was attached to this tree, since it was believed that the willow has great vitality, blooms first and receives pure spring energy from the sun before other trees.

Willows in landscape design - video

A large tree up to 20-30 in height, up to 3 m in diameter. The crown is tent-shaped, wide. The trunk is straight. The bark is gray, darker on old trunks, deeply fissured. Young shoots are shiny, silvery-fluffy at the ends, old ones are bare. Buds are sharp, reddish-yellow, silky. Stipules are silvery-fluffy, fall off early.

Leaves lanceolate or linear-lanceolate, pointed, silvery silky, 5-15 cm long, 1-3 cm wide, finely serrated, short-petiolate, with 12-15 pairs of lateral veins (Fig. 74).

Rice. 74. Willows: 1 - three-stamen: leaf, pistillate catkin, flowers, 2 - five-stamen: leaf, pistillate catkin, flowers; 3 - holly: leaves, flowers; 4 - Russian: leaves, flowers; 5 - white: leaves, pistil earring, flowers

Flower buds are laid at the end of summer. Stamens two, anthers bright yellow. There are two nectaries in the male flower, and one in the female. The tie is naked. White willow blooms in April-May. In the Moscow region, it blooms on average on May 11, in Nerekhta - on May 12, in Novgorod - on May 17. Boxes ripen 3-4 weeks after flowering.

Differs in fast growth. Winter-hardy. Light-loving enough. Undemanding to soils. The root system develops a powerful and deep. It grows in floodplains and around lakes in the form of pure stands or with poplars, elms, alders and other species. Tolerates prolonged flooding. Lives up to 100-150 years. Propagated by seeds, gives abundant shoots from the stump and on the trunks. White willow is bred with seeds, more often with cuttings and stakes along rivers and other bodies of water, as well as when planting roads, in gardens and parks as an ornamental tree. Recommended for topless farming and for field-protective afforestation in appropriate conditions. Naturally grows almost everywhere in the middle and southern parts of the European territory of Ukraine and Russia, reaches Vologda - Perm, and in culture - much to the north. In Siberia, it advanced to the Yenisei (Fig. 75). It is also widely distributed in Western Europe, Asia Minor, the Himalayas and other places. There are several forms of white willow that are of interest for landscaping (with weeping branches, with silver-silky leaves, etc.).

Rice. 75. Willow habitats

White willow wood is soft, light, with a pinkish or brownish-red heartwood and narrow white sapwood. Used in building construction rural areas, is used for the manufacture of arches, troughs, shuttles, various turning products, toys, etc. Stamens and hoops are made from young stems. Ropes are made from the bast. The bark contains 4-5% salicyl and tannins. It is a good honey plant.

Brittle willow, willow, willow (s. Fragilis l.)

A less powerful tree up to 15-20 m high and up to 1 m in diameter. The crown is wide, through. Trunk with brown-gray, deeply fractured bark. Branches olive green, shiny, brittle, bare.

Buds dark brown, oblong, glabrous, shiny. Leaves ovate-lanceolate, 10-15 cm long, up to 2.5 cm wide, dark green above, light green below, serrated, glabrous, petiole up to 1.5 cm long, with glands in the upper part. Stipules are ovate.

The brittle willow blooms in April-May simultaneously with the blooming of the leaves. In the Moscow region, it blooms on average on May 10, in Novgorod - on May 18, in Sverdlovsk - on May 24. Seeds ripen in June. Propagated by seeds, gives shoots from the stump and on the trunks. Suitable for topless farming. It is bred by planting stakes around ponds, dams, on the streets and estates, as well as cuttings. Naturally grows almost throughout the European part of Ukraine and Russia, in Western Siberia, Central Asia and the Caucasus (see Fig. 75), widely bred. Winter-hardy. Grows fast. Lives up to 75 years or more. Demanding on soil moisture. The root system is highly developed and deep. It is of interest as a forest and ornamental species. Known hybrids between brittle willow and white. The wood of the brittle willow has the same uses as the wood of the white willow.

Instructions for use:

Other names for this tree are silver willow, willow, willow, or simply willow. White willow belongs to the willow family and can reach 30 m in height, while the trunk can be 1 m in diameter. The branches of the tree are most often drooping, and the crown is spreading. The bark of the white willow is light gray when the plant is young, and black or dark gray in older trees. The trunk has a dark gray bark, and the branches on it can be reddish or yellowish, but always flexible and thin. Leaves linear-lanceolate or lanceolate, on fairly short petioles, silvery silky. The flowers of the plant are small, they are collected in erect catkins, which bloom simultaneously with the leaves.

The fruit of the white willow is a small bivalve single-celled box with small seeds that are covered with hairs. The tree blossoms in April, and its fruits fully ripen in May.

Willow is widespread throughout the CIS, with the exception, perhaps, only the Far North. Most often it grows along roads, near houses, along river banks and forest edges on moist and fertile soils. The people of Greece dedicated this tree to Hecate, the goddess of witchcraft and ghosts. Quite often, it was the white willow that became the main symbol of grief and sadness.

Raw material preparation

Most often drug white willow bark becomes white, very rarely men's earrings of this tree can become such. Properly prepared bark should be collected from branches or young trees even before the leaf unfolding period, that is, in April-May. By the way, at this time it is incredibly easy to collect wood, as it peels off very easily. The bark dries most often under iron roof in attics or in fairly well-ventilated areas, where it is scattered in a very thin layer. Also, drying of white willow bark can take place on special dryers with a set temperature not exceeding 40 ° C. Ready and properly prepared raw materials can be stored for 4 years in dry and cool rooms.

Men's earrings are best harvested during the flowering period and then dried in the shade.

The use of white willow

Willow bark contains up to 7% salicin glycoside, which can later be hydrolytically decomposed into tannins, saligenin, glucose, flavonoids, ascorbic acid, resins and a host of other substances due to the action of a special salicase enzyme.

The plant has antiseptic, tonic, anti-inflammatory, hemostatic, analgesic and antipyretic effects.

The bark of the branches and trunk of the white willow has disinfectant, diuretic, astringent, antipyretic and hemostatic properties. For colitis, gout, female diseases, gastritis, dysentery, internal bleeding, dyspepsia, neuralgia, migraine, pleurisy, diseases of the spleen and liver, fever, typhoid, tuberculosis, bedsores, neurosis, articular rheumatism and cystitis, it is recommended to take a powder, decoction or infusion white willow. But externally, willow preparations can be used to rinse the mouth, which is necessary for gingivitis, tonsillitis and periodontal disease. Willow can also be used externally to combat varicose veins, hyperhidrosis, various skin diseases, and even sweating. In the past, willow bark was also used as an effective antimalarial agent.

A decoction of white willow leaves in folk medicine is used for menorrhagia and severe bleeding in the intestines. It can also be a good antipyretic, as well as an infusion of willow flowers.

Harm from the use of white willow

It is strictly forbidden to use willow preparations for pregnant women and patients who are treated with laxatives, aspirin, cough and cold remedies, vitamins, antacids and amino acids.

Willow for the Slavs is not just a tree, ancient traditions, sacraments, beliefs are associated with it, it is a participant in many fairy tales and songs. The most famous variety of the willow family - white willow, growing everywhere, has more healing properties. This is exactly what will be discussed.

Botanical description and distribution of white willow

White willow (Salix alba) has other names - silver willow, willow, willow and willow. The name of the genus in translation from the Celtic sounds like "growing near the water", speaking of the place of growth characteristic of the willow. White willow is a tree up to 30 meters high, and its trunk can grow one and a half meters wide. Its dark gray, thick bark is cut with cracks. Crown configuration oval or round. The leaves are elongated and narrow with a slight edging below. Shoots are very flexible and long. Earring flowers appear in mid-spring and attract a large number of pollinating insects. The roots of this tree are lateral, occupy a large area, and the depth of their progress depends on the nature of the soil. In conditions of high humidity, it reaches three meters.

This species lends itself easily to hybridization, more often spontaneous, while losing many of its characteristic differences. It grows along water bodies, often forming thickets and large groves. Its neighbors are often poplar, alder, elder or other varieties of willow. White willow is distributed almost throughout Europe (except the north), Asia and northern Africa.

Medicinal and beneficial properties of white willow

White willow has long been widely used in everyday life:

The tanning properties of the bark were used in the manufacture of fishing tackle and leather.
Boats, troughs, wells were made of wood.
Bark dyed fabrics and products from them in a brown-red color.
Rods are used for the construction of outbuildings, in particular - livestock pens. They make a good base for hedges.
Pulp is obtained from wood, paper is produced.
Pets are fed with young branches, and infusions of the bark are used in veterinary medicine (they treat kidney diseases).
Willow honey is valued for its taste and medicinal properties. This is one of the earliest honey plants. From a hectare of willow plantations, about one and a half hundred kilograms of a healing product are obtained per season. It is also a source of pollen and bee glue.

Properties and treatment of white willow (video)

The medicinal properties of willow, containing salicin, flavonoids, resins, ascorbic acid and others, used in such cases:

For rinsing with inflammation of the throat and gums.
To treat inflammation of the skin, reduce sweating of the feet.
Its drugs, which have analgesic antipyretic, diaphoretic, hemostatic, antithrombotic, diuretic properties, are useful in the treatment of:

Gastritis - as improving digestion.
Gynecological diseases - to relieve inflammation and stop bleeding.
tuberculosis and fever.
Rheumatism, headaches, gout - as an anesthetic.
Diarrhea - as an astringent.
Hypotension - to raise the tone of the body, etc.

The use of medicinal properties of willow in traditional medicine

The unique healing properties of white willow are used in traditional and folk medicine, where bark, leaves, juice and its inflorescences have long been used. Preparations and remedies from willow bark are of particular benefit.

white willow bark

It is difficult to list all its healing possibilities, here are just a few recipes used in folk medicine:

Recipe number 1. Tea and infusion for fever, rheumatism, diarrhea, hypotension, sciatica: a teaspoon of raw materials is poured into a glass of boiling water, aged for several minutes. Drink 2 glasses daily. Or insist a triple dose of raw materials in boiling water in a half-liter thermos and take 3 times.
Recipe number 2. For erysipelas and fungal diseases: pour a glass of dry raw materials with boiling water so that it is completely covered with liquid. Let it stand for half an hour and pour it in a filtered form into warm water where to make baths. Or moisten a compress cloth with it.
Recipe number 3. To relieve heat: boil a spoonful of raw materials in a glass of boiling water for 20 minutes, drink cooled in a spoonful three times a day.
Recipe number 4. With hyperfunction of the thyroid gland: mix coals after burning willow branches with a double dose of honey and take a quarter cup three times a day for half an hour before meals.
Recipe number 5. With seborrhea and hair loss: boil two tablespoons of willow bark and burdock root in a liter of water for half an hour. Use when washing your hair.
Recipe number 6. A compress for warts: pour the crushed coals obtained from the burning of willow branches with vinegar until a mushy state. Use several times until they come off.

white willow leaves

Recipe number 1. For prostatitis: boil a spoonful of chopped branches with leaves for several minutes in half a liter of boiling water. Drink chilled half a cup, ten minutes before meals three times a day.
Recipe number 2. To soften calluses: foot baths with steamed willow leaves daily until they come off.
Recipe number 3. To relieve fever and intestinal colic: insist a spoonful of fresh leaves in a glass of boiling water for half an hour and drink in three doses.
Recipe number 4. For insomnia and rheumatic pains, take a bath before going to bed with the addition of an infusion of leaves.

White willow extract and juice

Willow bark juice is used in cosmetology to cleanse the skin of the face, relieve inflammation and smooth out shallow wrinkles. For this purpose, compresses are made from it. A mixture of this juice with pomegranate decoction and rose oil is used in oriental medicine for the treatment of otitis. It is also useful for hair, when rubbed into the scalp, they grow better, dandruff disappears.

Willow bark extract is included in various preparations used for overweight, heart disease and diabetes. It treats problem areas of the skin, normalizes the separation of fat and gives the skin a well-groomed appearance. Pharmaceutical preparation is used three times a day for half a teaspoon.

How to plant a willow (video)

Harvesting and storage features of willow

For medicinal purposes, willow bark is collected from specimens that have reached the age of seven. This is done in the spring, when it is especially juicy. The collected raw materials are cut into small pieces to make it easier to dry them. Then kept in the sun to dry. The final bringing of raw materials to the standard is carried out in electric dryers at a temperature not exceeding 50 degrees. Readiness is determined by the degree of its fragility. Dry bark is stored in cardboard boxes up to four years.

Contraindications and harm of the plant

Willow preparations cannot be combined with aspirin, because. it enhances the effect of the salicylates present in them. In addition, it is forbidden to use them:

With allergic reactions to aspirin.
Ulcers and those suffering from gastrointestinal pathologies.
Children under 16 years old.
Together with anticoagulants to avoid bleeding.
In the treatment of seizures, the use of certain painkillers.
With elevated blood pressure.

It is impossible to use them uncontrollably for lactating and pregnant women, patients taking other medicines. These drugs are not compatible with alcohol.

Decorative forms of white willow

White willow has several well-known ornamental varieties:

Tristis- a tree with a spreading and high crown, reaching up to two tens of meters. The branches are hanging down, with yellowish bark, the leaves are long and narrow, in autumn they are yellow-green. Picturesque yellow earrings appearing at the junction of April and May. Well-known honey crop. Grows in open, moist areas.
Argentea- at least tall tree with silvery, large and oblong leaves. Later, they retain a silvery hue only on the underside, and by autumn they become yellow. Earrings appear even before the leaves bloom.
Limpde- the highest variety of willow with a powerful, three-meter trunk. The crown is cone-shaped with green leaves. Blooms with already blossoming leaves in late spring. Good honey plant. Likes light, damp places, but does not tolerate acidic and marshy soils. well tolerated low temperatures.
Weeping (pendula)- a tree with a drooping crown and a color of the bark of young specimens that distinguishes it from other varieties. They have it at first mustard hue, and in the midst of the summer heat - reddish-brown on the sunny side. The leaves are long and very narrow, light green in color, resembling a waterfall in mass.
Sericea- a relatively low round tree with leaves that shimmer with silver. It reaches its maximum height of ten meters only at the age of 20.

Silver willow in garden decor

The fast growing silver willow is one of the best trees for landscaping problem areas. Its roots reliably strengthen sandy soils and attract water. It ideally tolerates urban gas pollution, these trees take root on roads blown by dry winds, protecting other plantings from them. That's why plants are often used as green hedges. In addition, these trees have a decorative crown and leaf color. They look spectacular in windy weather. Good for single and group compositions, indispensable on the shores of artificial lakes and pools.

Trees are pliable for shearing, they can be given any shape. For example, as a result of cutting the crown at the required height, you can get a ball, and when cutting it almost at the ground, you can get the same ball, but lowered to the ground. The plant looks great next to trees of contrasting texture, color and height. For example, in mixed and coniferous compositions next to maple, barberry, juniper, thuja and yew.

Willow in landscape design (video)

White willow is one of best plants for garden. In addition to numerous medicinal properties, it heals the soil and air, brings aesthetic pleasure in a variety of compositions.