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26/2/2024 0 Comments

Tree of the month: March 2024 - Goat Willow

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The Goat Willow is more commonly known as the Pussy Willow because of the furry, silver-grey male catkins that appear (before the leaves) in late February and March. It is one of several species of willow native to the UK. There are over 300 species of Willow worldwide but many hybridise with each other so it isn’t always easy to tell one willow species from another.

Because it tolerates dry, poor soils as well as damper conditions the Goat Willow is the Willow that appears in several parts of Parkwood Springs.

Goat Willow, growing up to 10 metres, can live for 300 years. It is a ‘pioneer species’ and can be found in open ground, woodland scrub and along water-courses.

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Goat Willow is ‘dioecious’, meaning male and female flowers are carried on different trees. The soft grey male catkins are the most easily recognised. As pollen develops they become covered in yellow pollen. The long, green female catkins appear woolly once seeds develop.

Wildlife value of the Goat Willow: Goat Willow is the food plant for the caterpillars of many Moths including the Sallow Kitten and Puss Moth, and the beautiful Purple Emperor Butterfly. Some Clearwing species also feed on Goat Willow. The whole plant is rich in vitamins and minerals, making it a favourite for grazing by Deer, Rabbits, Beavers and Squirrels. Several small birds nest in Goat Willow, including the spring migrants Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff, both of which we have nesting on Parkwood Springs.
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Early pollen and nectar source: Perhaps the most valuable wildlife contribution Goat Willow makes is from the mass of early pollen and nectar produced by the male-flowering trees. Dozens of insects that emerge in early spring feed on the rich nectar and pollen. These include Hoverflies, Flies, Beetles, Honey Bees, Queen Wasps and the early Bumblebee such as Buff-tailed and Tree Bumblebee Queens. Only the Queen Bumblebees overwinter, going through diapause, a form of dormancy where development is suspended. This process uses a great deal of energy and only the heaviest may survive, especially through extreme winters. Early, protein-rich sources of food like the Goat Willow are crucial as the Queens feed up in preparation for nest building and egglaying.

Overwintering Butterflies: The five UK butterflies that overwinter as adults - the Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell, Comma, Red Admiral and, perhaps my favourite of all Butterflies, the Brimstone also benefit from male Goat Willow flowers.
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As well as providing nest-sites for small birds some, including the Blue Tit, feed on the rich pollen and nectar of male Goat Willow flowers.

The attraction of Goat Willow to many insects means, coincidentally, insecteating birds including Tits and Wrens can easily find food by picking off the many insects they find feeding on the ‘Pussy Willow’ flowers.

Goat Willow buds stand out a little from the twigs. The leaves, unlike several other UK Willow species, are oval in shape. The tips of the leaves usually appear bent over, a useful way to aid identification in summer. Once the female flowers are pollinated they gradually become woolly. When mature these woolly hairs enable the masses of seeds to be wind-blown over long distances. The leaves of Goat Willow, rich in carbon and nitrogen, break down more easily than Oak or Beech, quickly improving the humus and fertility of nearby soils. The bark, smooth and grey when young, develops rough, diamond fissures with age.
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Human Uses for Goat Willow: Goat Willow wood, unlike some other willows, is too brittle to weave. Growing quickly, it has been used for fuel and charcoal, and for the ‘wattle’ of wattle and daub found in old buildings. The timber has also been pulped for paper. The bark produces a yellow dye, while the sap has been used as an insecticide. Nutritious, the Goat Willow is is good fodder for domestic animals, especially Goats- hence the name.

Herbal Uses: The bark has long been chewed to treat headaches and toothaches. In 19th Century it was found to contain Salicylic Acid from which the first synthetic drug to be produced- aspirin- was developed.

Infusions from the bark have been used to reduce inflammation of joints, treat sore throats and fevers.

OTHER WILLOWS:
Grey Willow hybridises with Goat and is another of the “Pussy Willows”. The other native Willows have long, thin leaves (lanceolate) and grow more readily near water. As they also hybridise it is not always easy to identify individual trees but they are all valuable for wildlife.

White Willow is large and silvery-leaved, hard to distinguish from Crack Willow, both growing by water or fenland areas and reaching heights of 25 metres. Crack Willow is named from the cracking sound made by the breaking branches.

The timber of Cricket Willow (a hybrid of White and Crack willow,) can absorb shock without splintering, hence its long use for Cricket bats and stumps.

Osier is the most pliant and the Willow most frequently used for basket and other weaving and art projects, modern coffins etc. Pliant willows have been used to make shelters, furniture, and domestic implements from early times. Weeping Willow is a native of northern China cultivated for millennia.

The Dutch traditionally used Willow wood to make their clogs and the Celts their chariot wheels and harps.
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The Willow in art and literature: The link with grief and death appears in Shakespeare where, in Hamlet, he describes Ophelia as drowned among the Willows. Pre-Raphaelite painters took up this theme with both John Everett Millais and John William Waterhouse painting ‘Ophelia among Willows’.

John Keats, in ‘To Autumn’ uses another common
name for the Willow- Sallow:
‘Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn,
Among the river sallows, borne aloft’

Willows in myth and legend: Willows’ close link with water led to an association with the powerful Greek goddess Hecate, of the Underworld. Orpheus was said to carry Willow on his ventures into the Underworld. Willow was also used for witchcraft and sorcery in many cultures. In Christianity Willow came to symbolise grief, willow twigs being traditionally carried in Britain as palms on Palm Sunday. In the 17th Century the bereft would wear a cap made from Willow sprigs to mark their grief.
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