When the Marsh Hen was growing up, Gail would have been called a librarian, a term the Marsh Hen and former First Lady Laura Bush like better.
The Marsh Hen does not read as many children’s books as does Gail, so when she decided to write this column, she asked her sister about children’s books and Indian lore that mention willow or willow trees.
IN LITERATURE
From this conversation, and an article in Wikipedia, the Marsh Hen learned that Hans Christian Andersen wrote Under the Willow Tree, In this story, children ask questions of a tree they called “willow-father.”
The Osage Indians told the parable of the “wisdom of the willow tree.” It’s about a young Indian seeking answers from a willow tree he calls “grandfather.”
Shakespeare used references to willow to represent forsaken love in three of his plays. In Hamlet , Ophelia climbs a willow tree and ends up in the river before her death because the willow branch breaks. In Othello, Desdemona’s song before her death draws upon willow imagery to describe her lost love. And in Twelfth Night, where Viola tells Olivia to “make me a willow-cabin at your gate and call upon my soul within the house.”
J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings features the character “Old Man Willow.” He traps some of Frodo’s companions until Tom Bombadil rescues them.
In J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Prisoner of Azkaban, an old tree on the grounds of Hogwarts is called the “Whomping Willow.” It was planted to hide a secret passageway through which Professor Lupin roamed on those full-moon nights when he became a werewolf.
MEDICINAL QUALITIES
The Marsh Hen is more familiar with the willow as the first source of salicin, which was eventually used to produce aspirin. As far back as ancient Egyptian culture, the willow’s bark and leaves were used as a remedy for aches and fever. Hippocrates realized its medicinal properties in the fifth Century B.C. and Native Americans relied on it as an integral part of their medical treatments.
In the mid 1700s, British writers acknowledged the medicinal properties of the bark. If a farmer had a headache, he chewed a piece of willow bark for relief. In the mid-to-late 1800s, French and American pharmacists separated the acid in its pure state and created a saturated solution called salicylic acid.
In 1897, Felix Hoffmann created a synthetically altered version of salicin derived from the spiraea plant. He preferred it because it was gentler on the digestive system than was the salicin found in willow bark. This new drug was known as acetylsalicylic acid and was named “aspirin” by Hoffmann’s employer, Bayer AG.
BUTTERFLIES, MOTHS AND BEES LOVE THEIR NECTAR
Both the male and female trees form “catkins” or buds in the spring and are the host plants for more than fifty seven species of butterflies and moths. The male catkins are on the drooping branches and leaves, while the female flowers look more like the traditional pussy willow and form close to the stem of the tree.
Bees also love the nectar. However, the blossoms do not produce large quantities of this delicious nectar.
Those with a lot of patience can produce fiber, paper, string, or rope from the willow wood. Thin reeds of willow can be used in basket weaving. The Marsh Hen has woven small baskets with willow and found it easy to work since it retains its flexibility long after other woods have dried out.
The willow roots easily, because of auxin which is used to root new cuttings. Legend has it that the first willow tree in England poet Alexander Pope saw a small bundle of paper wrapped with willow string and asked for a piece, and planted it.
Willow is grown for biomass and biofuel There are two projects working on this: the Willow Biomass Project in the U.S. and the Energy Coppice Project in the U. K.
CHARCOAL FOR ARTISTS AND BISCUITS
The Marsh Hen has learned that willow bark can be used to produce charcoal that artists use. It is burned to various stages of “soft” charcoal.
Of course, the Marsh Hen was able to find a biscuit recipe using the charcoal. The recipe calls for mixing willow charcoal powder with flour, butter, sugar, and eggs. It’s good for animals as well because it aids their digestion.
EROSION CONTROL
The willow has value as a stabilizer for stream banks, slopes, and windbreaks. However, the tree’s roots search for water, can clog underground drains and pipes, and it is not recommended for small locations. The tree sometimes is a messy tree because it self-prunes its branches, like a pecan tree will, so the ground will most always be littered with sticks. Also, due to its root system it is hard to grow any other plant under the willow.
To read more about the willow tree, check out the MAY/JUNE 2009 edition of Marsh Rider Magazine
Willow tree photo by 'dontworry' on Wikipedia.com; other pictures and resource material from Schaeffer, Elizabeth: Dandelion, Pokeweed, and Goosefoot; Wikipedia: willow; tweedsblues.net.