Willow

Other names: Salacin willow, withe, withy

Scientific name: Salix alba (white), Salix nigra (black)

Common names:

Ayurvedic names:

Chinese names: Liu

Bangladesh names: Panikanchira

Arabic names:    الصفصاف (as safsaaf)

Rain Forest names:

Family: Fabaceae?

Approximate number of species known:

Common parts used: Bark

Collection:

Annual/Perennial:

Height: Upto 90 feet

Actions: Anti-inflammatory, anti-pyretic, analgesic, antiseptic, astrigent, vulnerary

Known Constituents: Glucosides, salicin (salicoside), salicum, salicortine, flavonoids, and tannin

Constituents Explained:

Description: 

The bark of the willow tree is the source of one of our most potent drugs, acetylsalicylic acid, known as the aspirin. Grows to 90 feet tall. Branchlets pliable, not brittle at the base; silky. Leaves lance-shaped, mostly without stipules; ashy-gray in color and silky or hairy above and beneath (use lens). Covered with rough, gray bark, in some parts of the world it grows also as a shrub

Traditional Use:

Contains salycylic acid which aspirin was once made from.  Aspirin is now made synthetically in a laboratory. It has been thought of as the natural form of aspirin.  It has traditionally been used for aches, pains, fevers and inflammation.

It has been used for the stomach and heart burn, and to stop bleeding.1  It has been used in place of quinine.1

history of willow and aspirin

Willow grows in damp conditions, particularly near river banks.

Black Willow has been used specifically for reducing fever and relieving pain.1  The black willow has also been used for the reproductive area, incontinece and acute sexually transmitted diseases.1

The willow family is exclusively dioecious, meaning it needs both a male, and female plant to reproduce.

Clinical Studies: