Honey bees
Nectar value
High
Pollen value
High
Pollinator plant
Osier, Basket Willow
Salix viminalis
Linked agroforestry plant data
Pollinator recipe
Bee value
Who this plant supports
Agroforestry database
Complete plant information
Structure
- Vegetation layer
- Tree
- Size
- Medium
- Dimensions
- 6.00 m high × 4.00 m wide
- Growth rate
- Slow
- Lifecycle
- Perennial
- Foliage
- Deciduous
Site conditions
- USDA hardiness
- 4-8
- Moisture
- Moist, Wet
- Soil
- Sandy, Loamy, Clay
- pH
- Acid, Neutral, Alkaline
- Light
- Sun
Uses
- Edible parts
- Leaves, Inner bark, Tea
- Functions
- Basketry, Pioneer plant, Windbreak, Timber
- Edibility
- 1 out of 5
- Medicinal value
- 2 out of 5
The inner bark of the tree can be eaten both raw and cooked. The bark can be dried, ground into a powder, and added to grain flour to make bread, for example. When fresh, the bark has a very bitter taste. It can even be eaten during food shortages. The leaves and young shoots of the tree can also be eaten raw or cooked, although they are not particularly tasty. In times of scarcity, they are used as food. The leaves can also serve as a substitute for tea.