Honey bees
Nectar value
High
Pollen value
High
Pollinator plant
Willow
Salix alba
Linked agroforestry plant data
Pollinator recipe
Bee value
Who this plant supports
Agroforestry database
Complete plant information
Structure
- Vegetation layer
- Tree
- Size
- Medium
- Dimensions
- 25.00 m high × 10.00 m wide
- Growth rate
- Slow
- Lifecycle
- Perennial
- Foliage
- Deciduous
Site conditions
- USDA hardiness
- 2-8
- Moisture
- Moist, Wet
- Soil
- Sandy, Loamy, Clay
- pH
- Acid, Neutral, Alkaline
- Light
- Sun
Uses
- Edible parts
- Leaves, Inner bark, Tea
- Functions
- Basketry, Charcoal, Paper, Pioneer plant, Windbreak, Timber, Pollinator plant
- Edibility
- 1 out of 5
- Medicinal value
- 3 out of 5
Inner bark can be eaten both raw and cooked. The bark can be dried, ground into powder, and added to grain flour to make bread. It has a bitter taste, especially when fresh, and is sometimes consumed during food shortages. Leaves and young shoots can also be eaten raw or cooked. Although they are not very tasty, they are used in times of scarcity or famine. The leaves can even serve as a tea substitute.