Black Willow

Black Willow-Salix nigra Marsh.

Leaf:

	The leaves of the black willow are simple and alternate .
	Blades are narrowly lance-shaped, curved, and have long points at the tips.
	Blades are also rounded or tapered at the base, up to six inches long, finely toothed along the edges, and green and shiny on the upper surface.
	The veins are smooth or hairy on the lower surface of the leaf.
	The petiole (leafstalk) is short and often surrounded at the base by a pair of green leaf-like stipules.

Stem:

	Stem is slender, olive-green in the summer and red in the fall, and smooth.
	The leaf scars are alternate, U-shaped, with three bundle traces.

Bark:

	The bark of the black willow is rough and furrowed.
	Itn forms elongated, vertical, rather tight scales.

Flower:

	The male (staminate) and female (pistillate) flowers are on separate trees.
	The flowers are minute, crowded in elongated catkins (long, bushy clusters of flowers) and appear when the leaves begin to unfold.

Seed:

Several narrow, flask-shaped, reddish-brown capsules up to one-eighth inch long, and are crowded in long, lengthened clusters.

Form:

	The tree is medium to large, sometimes up to 90 feet tall.
	The diameter of the trunk can be up to three feet.
	The crown is usually round-topped, but sometimes it is irregular.

Distribution:

	It is found throughout eastern United States, adjacent parts of Canada, and Mexico.
	The range extends west from southern New Brunswick and central Main to Quebec, southern Ontario, central Michigan, southeastern Minnesota, and eastern North Dakota.
	It occurs south and west to the Rio Grande just below confluence (union) with Pecos River, and east along Gulf Coast through the Florida Panhandle and southern Georgia.
	It has been introduced in Utah and is not common along many stream bottoms.

Discussion:

	This was the preferred wood for making charcoal for black gunpowder in colonial times.
	The inner bark (bast) was brewed into tea which was used to fight malaria and was a poor man's alternative to quinine. The tea was also considered a good spring "tonic". The bast can also be dried and ground into flour, but it was very bitter. The bast is considered a good source of nourishment, vitamins, and minerals.
	Native Americans and Europeans also used the smaller flexible twigs for making baskets.
	Modern herbalists say that the glycosides, salicin and populin, within the willow bark can be used to reduce inflammation in joints and membranes.
	It is used for treating headaches, fevers, neuralgia, and hay fever.
	Salicin and populin are excreted as aspirin-like compounds and are considered useful in reducing bladder and urethral irritability.

Location:

Cumberland High School, 1496 IL Route 121, Toledo, IL 62468

GPS Coordinates:

References:

	Msn Maps and Directions. 28 Oct. 2004 <www.mapblast.com>.
	Mohlenbrock, Robert H. Forest Trees of Illinois. 8th ed. Springfield: Illinois Department of Natural Resources, nd.
	Distribution and Occurrence. 22 Oct. 2004 <http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/tree/salnig/distribution_and_occurrence.html>.
	*"Black Willow" Moonshine Designs Nursery. n.d. 29 October 2004.* <http://www.djroger.com/black%20willow.htm>