Pacific Willow Tree, Research Paper Example

Along with that spring fever you caught this year, you might notice something else springing up: Salix lasiandra, the Pacific willow. Its growth in America is widespread. It skirts the coastal edges of North America from Alaska to the Black Hills through the Rocky Mountains to New Mexico; its stop in the Black Hills is why it is often called the western black willow (Uchytil, 1). But this tree is more than just a decoration; it has many uses, which probably have not been completely exhausted yet. Since it is so common to find Pacific willow, they are always  in plant nurseries and in the wild and are usually taken for granted (“National Resources Conservation Center”).

It grows mainly in the spring and summer and enjoys sunbathing and sucking up massive quantities of the water in the soil. It can grow anywhere from fifteen to forty-five feet tall (“Gardenguides.com” 1-3). Another source claimed that it could grow to sixty feet (Uchytil 1). It does not respond well to salt water or shade (“National Resources Conservation Center”).

You can distinguish the Pacific willow by its plant base which curves out in chunky, curved waves (“Flora of North America”). Even though Salix lasiandra has fine, white hairs on its stem, branches, and leaves, the reddish-brown, rusty-colored fruit that is sometimes produced

is hairless. The thin, shiny leaves also have a slight ribbing to them like teeth, have straight or curvy veins, and hold the little round clusters of flowers with yellow seeds (“Flora of North America”).  The quirks like these make this willow unique (“Gardenguides.com” 2). Upon very close examination a person can see wide, scale-like patterns on the bark of this tough willow (Moore 2).

The Pacific willow has been used to hold the dirt erosion off in extremely moist areas. Because of this attraction to water, this “western black willow” can survive without much air and at temperatures as low as thirty degrees below zero Fahrenheit (“Conservation Plant Characteristics”).  Their survival is facilitated by their food reserves of plant moisture. (Remember that these shrubs and trees love a little heat and damp ground and generally thrive in areas with an average of at least 14 inches of rainfall per year.) In only ten days a pile of mud that was washing away can be overrun with this shrub (“Gardenguides.com”; Uchytil, 4-5). They acquired the nickname “whiplash willow” because it is common for them to be planted to shield houses in areas which are prone to having high wind speeds (“National Center for Conservation Science and Policy”). The Pacific willow owes this strength and durability partially to its roots that may go as far as three feet underground. That may not sound like much at first, but- when combined with the ability to root quickly and the support of the thick stem- it is extremely well-prepared for rough waters (“Gardenguides.com”).

The window of opportunity for seed propagation closes in a short four to six weeks (and gets a lot harder after the first ten days), but when its seeds spread it produces enough to take over the areas that surround it and be very difficult to weed out (Moore; “Gardenguides.com”). Not to mention the fact that it can take coarse and fine- but not average- soil types, can produce many seeds, and is reasonably fire resistant. If you have to stop, drop, and roll, then aim for the Pacific willows. Just hurry, because they don’t live for long (“National Center for Conservation Science and Policy”).

If you miss your window of opportunity the first time, then a little bit of hardwood buried from November to March could prepare you to not miss out the next year (Moore). It is literally a perennial favorite. Even though it will continue to come up each year, the leaves may not. They are surprisingly delicate, but bees and nectar are commonly found in big numbers near Pacific willow (“Gardenguides.com”; Uchytil).

Even this stubborn plant is no match for herds of hungry cows, and in Montana these plants literally hang on for dear life due to an abundance of cattle. When they begin to die, there is a noticeable slump in their normally-upright appearance, and clumps of stem and seeds begin to be visible (“Conservation Plant Characteristics”). Technically humans can digest this plant better than the cows, but it is still uncommon to eat, except in certain Native American tribes (“Gardenguides.com”).

In the Disney movie, Pocahontas, Grandmother Willow was a wise and respected talking tree. (The bark of Pacific willows does look similar to hers.) In reality the Native American tribes used poweders from the bark of the Pacific willow to treat dandruff, stomach ache, diarrhea, and dysentery (Uchytil, 5). They would also use the bark to make fabric, baskets, tea, and a type of flour. The stems were strong enough that they were usually used to carve out bows, too (“Gardenguides.com”). The Native Americans knew the local plant life very well and taught the settlers about the clusters of Pacific willow, sagebrush, and Douglas fir and Ponderosa pine trees native to the area (The National Center for Conservation Science and Policy).

What other plant is used for such strange and interesting things as making bows, flour, and diarrhea medicine, as well as being beneficial to rough areas, like riverbanks, floodplains, and swampy wetlands, that need protection from soil erosion and strong winds? What other plant feels the sun’s rays in so many places across the U.S.? There is no other plant quite like Salix lasiandra, the Pacific willow, the western black willow. Those aren’t even all of the names it has been given, because it covers almost half of the country: yellow willow, red willow, black willow, whiplash willow, golden willow, caudate willow, waxy willow, Lemmon’s willow, etc. The list is too long to write here (Moore 3). Hunters and landscaping enthusiasts love it, too, because it attracts wildlife: deer, moose, elk, cattle, and mice (The National Center for Conservation Science and Policy) and is a less expensive alternative to the rock or bushes that is often used to hold soil or to build depth in a yard. Getting rid of it soon is the harder part. Those three-feet-long roots are obviously good for something else: getting a strong hold on its place in history and in yards across the country.

Works Cited

“Conservation Plant Characteristics.” National Resources Conservation Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 May 2010. <http://plants.usda.gov/java/charProfile?symbol=SALUL>.

Moore, Lincoln. “Pacific Willow.” US Department of Agriculture (2003): 1-2. Web. Reviewed Proquest Publishing Services;19 May 2010.

“Pacific Willow.” Gardenguides.com 2010: 1-3. Web. 19 May 2010. <http://www.gardenguides.com/taxonomy/pacific-willow-salix-lucida-ssp-lasiandra/>.

“Salix Lasiandra.” Flora of North America 7. n. pag. Web. 19 May 2010. <http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=250094998>.

The National Center for Conservation Science and Policy. Groundwire, n.d. Web. 20   May 2010. <http://nccsp.org/scientific_knowledge/specific-education-projects/oregon-big-tree-registry-1/pacific-willow/?searchterm=cattle>.

Uchytil, Ronald J. 1989. Salix lucida subsp. lasiandra. In: Fire Effects Information System,   [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/ [2010, May 21].