Summary ⁴

Salix exigua (sandbar willow, narrowleaf willow, or coyote willow; syn. S. argophylla, S. hindsiana, S. interior, S. linearifolia, S. luteosericea, S. malacophylla, S. nevadensis, and S. parishiana) is a species of willow native to most of North America except for the southeast and far north, occurring from Alaska east to New Brunswick, and south to northern Mexico.

Ethnobotanic ⁵

This plant is not only satisfying to the eye when stumbled upon, but medicinal and household uses are countless. One of the most outspoken uses for willow branches are its ability to be used in a variety of weaving for water jugs, storage baskets, serving bowls to name a few. The branches also have an ability to be used as a dye by soaking the leaves and then boiling the mixture to concentrate the pigment. With the Paiute, the willow was used to construct houses then covered with other plants such as cattails or tules.

The willow plant has contributed to the medical community quite significantly. The willow plant is used to treat headache, fever, and sore throat by boiling the leaves of the plant, this is the pharmaceutical equivalent of aspirin. Other treatments the willow plant can help with include infected wounds, diarrhea, and ovarian pain to list a few. The Paiute uses this plant by using the willow charcoal added to water, consumed as a tea in order to stop diarrhea.

Willow in the Wild ⁵

The willow caters to the riparian ecosystem in a multitude of ways. Some of these include, but are not limited to ecological diversity, water quality improvement due to filtration and trapping of sediment, stabilization of the stream banks.

Sources and Credits

1. (c) Matt Lavin, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://www.flickr.com/photos/35478170@N08/5001878120
2. (c) Edward Warden, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Edward Warden
3. (c) madge, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by madge
4. Adapted by abbyevans from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salix_exigua
5. (c) abbyevans, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)

More Info

• iNat taxon page
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• BOLD Systems BIN search
• Calflora
• CalPhotos
• eFloras.org
• Flora of North America (beta)
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants
• IPNI (with links to POWO, WFO, and BHL)
• Jepson eFlora
• NatureServe Explorer 2.0
• OregonFlora.org
• SEINet Symbiota portals
• Tropicos
• USDA PLANTS database
• VASCAN by Canadensys
• World Flora Online

iNat Map