The Pussy Willow, Salix discolor, is a small, weak-wooded tree, often grown for cut flowers. This is a relatively small willow and often is found growing as a shrub. The bark is gray to reddish-brown, smooth on younger growth but fissured and scaly later. The female flowers, called catkins, are the largest of the willows, and distinguish the Pussy Willow from other species of its kind. Its natural growth is in wet habitats such as wet meadows, stream banks and lake borders. But it will grow well when transplanted into drier soils. The Pussy Willow ranges throughout much of southern Canada and the northern United States, east of the Rocky Mountains. It occurs throughout most of Ohio wherever there is appropriate habitat. The main use of the Pussy Willow by people is as an ornamental tree because of its blossoms and foliage. Also, conservationists plant it to protect stream banks and pond margins from erosion.

Leaves

alternate; elliptical, bright to dark green above, pale to white-glaucous beneath, 3-10 cm long, 1-3 cm wide, sometimes deeply lobed.

Cones

long-beaked capsules 7-12 mm long, on the female catkins, finely pubescent; stipes 1.5-4 mm long; maturing in June.

Bark

See Uses.

Habitat

Swamps, fens, stream banks, floodplains, marsh borders, ditches and other wet habitat throughout NW Ontario's boreal region.

Uses

Willow bark's most important medicinal qualities are its ability to ease pain and reduce inflammation. In fact, it was from salicylic acid, one of the ingredients in willow bark, that aspirin was originally synthesized. Studies have identified several other components of willow bark which have antioxidant, fever-reducing, antiseptic, and immune-boosting effects.

Notes

The Pussy Willow, as all willows, provides a compound called 'salicin' which is similar to the active ingredient in most over-the-counter painkillers. Native North Americans have extracted it from the bark and roots for a painkiller and anti-fever medication.