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Common Name: Beak Willow

General Information

Salix bebbiana is a Deciduous Shrub up to 7.00 metres tall.
It has medicinal and miscellaneous uses.

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

,

Range

N. America - Newfoundland to Alaska, south to California.

Habitat

Moist rich soils along streams, lakes and swamps, but also forming dense thickets in open meadows[]. Found at elevations up to 3000 metres[].

Properties

Medicinal Rating
Habit	Deciduous Shrub
Height	7.00 m
Growth Rate	Fast
Pollinators	Bees
Self-fertile	No
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

Succeeds in most soils, including wet, ill-drained or intermittently flooded soils[, ], but prefers a damp, heavy soil in a sunny position[]. Rarely thrives on chalk[].
A fast-growing but short-lived species[].
This species is closely related to S. starkeana, differing mainly in its more vigorous habit[].
Hybridizes freely with other members of this genus[]. Although the flowers are produced in catkins early in the year, they are pollinated by bees and other insects rather than by the wind[].
Plants in this genus are notably susceptible to honey fungus[].
A dioecious species - both male and female forms must be grown if fruit and seed are required.

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal

A poultice of the chewed root inner bark has been applied to a deep cut[].
The shredded inner bark has been used as sanitary napkins to 'heal a woman's insides'[]. A poultice of the damp inner bark has been applied to the skin over a broken bone[].
A decoction of the branches has been taken by women for several months after childbirth to increase the blood flow[].
A poultice of the bark and sap has been applied as a wad to bleeding wounds[].
The fresh bark of all members of this genus contains salicin[], which probably decomposes into salicylic acid (closely related to aspirin) in the human body[]. This is used as an anodyne and febrifuge[].

Other Uses

A pioneer species, readily invading any cleared-out area if there is sufficient moisture[]. It is short-lived and not very shade tolerant and so, having provided good conditions for other woodland trees to become established, it is eventually out-competed by them[].
The pliable stems are used in basket making[, ]. The plant is usually coppiced annually when grown for basket making, though it is possible to coppice it every two years if thick poles are required as uprights.
The bark has been twisted into cord and made into strong rope, bags and dresses[]. The bark has been used for sewing birch bark onto basket frames[].
The wood often has diamond-shaped depressions on the bark caused by a fungus. This wood is considered to be very ornamental and is carved into canes, lamp posts and furniture[]. The wood has also been used to make baseball bats and to make charcoal[].

Propagation

Seed - must be surface sown as soon as it is ripe in late spring. It has a very short viability, perhaps as little as a few days.
Cuttings of mature wood of the current year's growth, late autumn to late winter in a sheltered outdoor bed or planted straight into their permanent position and given a good weed-suppressing mulch. Very easy. Plant into their permanent positions in the autumn.
Cuttings of half-ripe wood, early summer to August in a frame. Very easy.