Golden Willow redirects here. See Golden Willow

Golden Willow (horse)

Golden Willow is the youngest horse to ever win the Badminton Horse Trials. The five-year-old won the first year of the event, in 1949. Today, horses must be a minimum of seven years old to compete in the difficult competition, and most horses that compete are no younger than 10.*Foaled:...

 for information on the horse of that name.

Salix alba (White Willow) is a species of willow

Willow

Willows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...

 native to Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 and western and central Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

. The name derives from the white tone to the undersides of the leaves.

It is a medium-size to large deciduous

Deciduous

Deciduous means "falling off at maturity" or "tending to fall off", and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally, and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe...

 tree

Tree

A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...

 growing up to 10–30 m tall, with a trunk up to 1 m diameter and an irregular, often-leaning crown. The bark

Bark

Bark is the outermost layers of stems and roots of woody plants. Plants with bark include trees, woody vines and shrubs. Bark refers to all the tissues outside of the vascular cambium and is a nontechnical term. It overlays the wood and consists of the inner bark and the outer bark. The inner...

 is grey-brown, deeply fissured in older trees. The shoots in the typical species are grey-brown to green-brown. The leaves

Leaf

A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....

 are paler than most other willows, due to a covering of very fine silky white hairs, in particular on the underside; they are 5–10 cm long and 0.5–1.5 cm wide. The flower

Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...

s are produced in catkin

Catkin

A catkin or ament is a slim, cylindrical flower cluster, with inconspicuous or no petals, usually wind-pollinated but sometimes insect pollinated . They contain many, usually unisexual flowers, arranged closely along a central stem which is often drooping...

s in early spring, and pollinated by insect

Insect

Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...

s. It is dioecious

Plant sexuality

Plant sexuality covers the wide variety of sexual reproduction systems found across the plant kingdom. This article describes morphological aspects of sexual reproduction of plants....

, with male and female catkins on separate trees; the male catkins are 4–5 cm long, the female catkins 3–4 cm long at pollination, lengthening as the fruit matures. When mature in mid summer, the female catkins comprise numerous small (4 mm) capsules

Capsule (fruit)

In botany a capsule is a type of simple, dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. A capsule is a structure composed of two or more carpels that in most cases is dehiscent, i.e. at maturity, it splits apart to release the seeds within. A few capsules are indehiscent, for example...

 each containing numerous minute seed

Seed

A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...

s embedded in white down, which aids wind dispersal.

Ecology

White Willows are fast-growing, but relatively short-lived, being susceptible to several disease

Disease

A disease is an abnormal condition affecting the body of an organism. It is often construed to be a medical condition associated with specific symptoms and signs. It may be caused by external factors, such as infectious disease, or it may be caused by internal dysfunctions, such as autoimmune...

s, including watermark disease

Brenneria salicis

Brenneria salicis is a Gram-negative bacterium that is pathogenic on plants.The bacterium is known to cause 'watermark disease' in willow trees. Watermark disease affects infected trees by occluding the xylem vessels, impeding circulation. Early signs of the disease are wilting or dried-out, dead...

 caused by the bacterium Brenneria salicis

Brenneria salicis

Brenneria salicis is a Gram-negative bacterium that is pathogenic on plants.The bacterium is known to cause 'watermark disease' in willow trees. Watermark disease affects infected trees by occluding the xylem vessels, impeding circulation. Early signs of the disease are wilting or dried-out, dead...

(named because of the characteristic 'watermark' staining in the wood

Wood

Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...

; syn. Erwinia salicis) and willow anthracnose, caused by the fungus

Fungus

A fungus is a member of a large group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds , as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, Fungi, which is separate from plants, animals, and bacteria...

 Marssonina salicicola. These diseases can be a serious problem on trees grown for timber or ornament.

It readily forms natural hybrids with Crack Willow Salix fragilis, the hybrid being named Salix × rubens Schrank.

Uses

The wood

Wood

Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...

 is tough, strong, and light in weight, but has minimal resistance to decay. The stems (withies

Withy

Withy or withe is a strong flexible willow stem that is typically used in thatching and for gardening. An advantage of using this type of material is said to be a greater resistance to woodworm....

) from coppiced

Coppicing

Coppicing is a traditional method of woodland management which takes advantage of the fact that many trees make new growth from the stump or roots if cut down. In a coppiced wood, young tree stems are repeatedly cut down to near ground level...

 and pollarded

Pollarding

Pollarding is a pruning system in which the upper branches of a tree are removed, promoting a dense head of foliage and branches. It has been common in Great Britain and Europe since medieval times and is practiced today in urban areas worldwide, primarily to maintain trees at a predetermined...

 plants are used for basket-making. Charcoal

Charcoal

Charcoal is the dark grey residue consisting of carbon, and any remaining ash, obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from animal and vegetation substances. Charcoal is usually produced by slow pyrolysis, the heating of wood or other substances in the absence of oxygen...

 made from the wood was important for gunpowder

Gunpowder

Gunpowder, also known since in the late 19th century as black powder, was the first chemical explosive and the only one known until the mid 1800s. It is a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate - with the sulfur and charcoal acting as fuels, while the saltpeter works as an oxidizer...

 manufacture. The bark was used in the past for tanning

Tanning

Tanning is the making of leather from the skins of animals which does not easily decompose. Traditionally, tanning used tannin, an acidic chemical compound from which the tanning process draws its name . Coloring may occur during tanning...

 leather.

Cultivars and hybrids

A number of cultivar

Cultivar

A cultivar'Cultivar has two meanings as explained under Formal definition. When used in reference to a taxon, the word does not apply to an individual plant but to all those plants sharing the unique characteristics that define the cultivar. is a plant or group of plants selected for desirable...

s and hybrids have been selected for forestry

Forestry

Forestry is the interdisciplinary profession embracing the science, art, and craft of creating, managing, using, and conserving forests and associated resources in a sustainable manner to meet desired goals, needs, and values for human benefit. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands...

 and horticultural

Horticulture

Horticulture is the industry and science of plant cultivation including the process of preparing soil for the planting of seeds, tubers, or cuttings. Horticulturists work and conduct research in the disciplines of plant propagation and cultivation, crop production, plant breeding and genetic...

 use:

• Salix alba 'Caerulea' (Cricket-bat Willow; syn. Salix alba var. caerulea (Sm.) Sm.; Salix caerulea Sm.) is grown as a specialist timber
  Timber
  Timber may refer to:* Timber, a term common in the United Kingdom and Australia for wood materials * Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S...
  
   crop in Britain
  Great Britain
  Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
  
  , mainly for the production of cricket bat
  Cricket bat
  A cricket bat is a specialised piece of equipment used by batsmen in the sport of cricket to hit the ball. It is usually made of willow wood. Its use is first mentioned in 1624....
  
  s, and for other uses where a tough, lightweight wood
  Wood
  Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...
  
   that does not splinter easily is required. It is distinguished mainly by its growth form, very fast-growing with a single straight stem, and also by its slightly larger leaves (10–11 cm long, 1.5–2 cm wide) with a more blue-green colour. Its origin is unknown; it may be a hybrid between White Willow and Crack Willow, but this is not confirmed.
• Salix alba 'Vitellina' (Golden Willow; syn. Salix alba var. vitellina (L.) Stokes) is a cultivar grown in gardens for its shoots, which are golden-yellow for 1–2 years before turning brown. It is particularly decorative in winter; the best effect is achieved by coppicing
  Coppicing
  Coppicing is a traditional method of woodland management which takes advantage of the fact that many trees make new growth from the stump or roots if cut down. In a coppiced wood, young tree stems are repeatedly cut down to near ground level...
  
   it every 2–3 years to stimulate the production of longer young shoots with better colour. Other similar cultivars include 'Britzensis', 'Cardinal', and 'Chermesina', selected for even brighter orange-red shoots.
• Salix alba 'Sericea' (Silver Willow) is a cultivar where the white hairs on the leaves are particularly dense, giving it more strongly silvery-white foliage.
• Salix alba 'Vitellina-Tristis' (Golden Weeping Willow, synonym 'Tristis') is a weeping cultivar with yellow branches that become reddish-orange in winter. It is now rare in cultivation and has been largely replaced by Salix Sepulcralis Group 'Chrysocoma'
  Salix Sepulcralis Group 'Chrysocoma'
  Salix 'Chrysocoma, or Weeping Golden Willow, a member of the Salix Sepulcralis Group, is the most popular and widely grown weeping tree in the warm temperate regions of the world. It is an artificial hybrid between S. alba 'Vitellina-Tristis' and S. babylonica 'Babylon'...
  
  . It is, however, still the best choice in very cold parts of the world like Canada, the Northern U.S.A., and Russia.

• The Golden Hybrid Weeping Willow (Salix Sepulcralis Group 'Chrysocoma'
  Salix Sepulcralis Group 'Chrysocoma'
  Salix 'Chrysocoma, or Weeping Golden Willow, a member of the Salix Sepulcralis Group, is the most popular and widely grown weeping tree in the warm temperate regions of the world. It is an artificial hybrid between S. alba 'Vitellina-Tristis' and S. babylonica 'Babylon'...
  
  ) is a hybrid between White Willow and Peking Willow Salix babylonica.

Medicinal uses

Hippocrates

Hippocrates

Hippocrates of Cos or Hippokrates of Kos was an ancient Greek physician of the Age of Pericles , and is considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history of medicine...

 wrote in the 5th century BC about a bitter powder extracted from willow bark that could ease aches and pains and reduce fevers. This remedy is also mentioned in texts from ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...

, Sumer

Sumer

Sumer was a civilization and historical region in southern Mesopotamia, modern Iraq during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age....

, and Assyria

Assyria

Assyria was a Semitic Akkadian kingdom, extant as a nation state from the mid–23rd century BC to 608 BC centred on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times through history. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur...

. The Reverend Edmund Stone

Edmund Stone

Reverend Edward Stone was a Church of England Rector who discovered the active ingredient of Aspirin.- Biography :Edward Stone was born in Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire, England in 1702 into a family that had been farming in Princes Risborough since 1580...

, a vicar from Chipping Norton in Oxfordshire, England, noted in 1763 that willow bark was effective in reducing a fever. The bark is often macerated in ethanol to produce a tincture

Tincture

A tincture is an alcoholic extract or solution of a non-volatile substance . To qualify as a tincture, the alcoholic extract is to have an ethanol percentage of at least 40-60%...

.

The active extract of the bark, called salicin, after the Latin name Salix, was isolated to its crystalline form in 1828 by Henri Leroux, a French pharmacist, and Raffaele Piria

Raffaele Piria

Raffaele Piria , an Italian chemist from Scilla who converted the substance Salicin into a sugar and a second component, which on oxidation becomes salicylic acid, a major component of an analgesic drug, Aspirin .-References:...

, an Italian chemist, who then succeeded in separating out the acid in its pure state. Salicylic acid

Salicylic acid

Salicylic acid is a monohydroxybenzoic acid, a type of phenolic acid and a beta hydroxy acid. This colorless crystalline organic acid is widely used in organic synthesis and functions as a plant hormone. It is derived from the metabolism of salicin...

, like aspirin

Aspirin

Aspirin , also known as acetylsalicylic acid , is a salicylate drug, often used as an analgesic to relieve minor aches and pains, as an antipyretic to reduce fever, and as an anti-inflammatory medication. It was discovered by Arthur Eichengrun, a chemist with the German company Bayer...

, is a chemical derivative of salicin.