The question of whether the willow is a tree or shrub often arises at the sight of these completely different representatives of the flora. On the one hand, willow, growing quite dense thickets along the rivers and lashing with the rods of branches of ecotourists making their way to the water, is clearly a bush.
On the other hand, centuries-old trunks, not inferior in height and width to oaks, cannot be called a bush, it is a tree. In the literature and notes of willow naturalists, the description is often radically opposite.
Bush or tree?
Willow, according to a botanical definition, is a woody plant. This plant belongs to its own family.
The willow family is one of the most numerous. It has over 550 species. These are quite dwarf bushes no more than 15 centimeters in height, growing beyond the Arctic Circle, and giant inhabitants of the tropics, who can argue with their splendor even with sequoias.
That is, the answer to the question of whether the willow is a tree or shrub will be both. A bush is a specific willow or tree, depending on its species.
What willows relate to trees?
The most famous representatives of willow trees in our country are:
- white or silver, colloquially - wind;
- brittle or sore;
- goat, in a rural way - nonsense, the most common.
Goat willow, so named because of the love of these animals for its shoots, is often mistaken for rakita. It can have a different color of leaves, as it easily crosses with other plants. Goat willow can grow as a bush or tree.
What willows belong to the bushes?
The most famous representatives of willow shrubs in our country are:
- Blueberry
- weeping;
- purple
- willow;
- ashen.
On Sakhalin and in the Far East as a whole, the willow of Nakamura is growing, outwardly similar to ashen. Ashen willow is a bush that is found almost everywhere in Central Russia.
What does this willow look like?
This shrub is relatively small. Under favorable conditions, ash willow grows to a height of six meters. And its radius can reach three meters. It is the radius, because in the absence of constraint, for example in the field, this shrub itself is formed into an almost perfect ball.
The leaves are elongated. The leaf length of a very young shrub is four centimeters, in an adult plant - 12-15. The top of the sheet has a gray color with a greenish tint, for which the willow got its name. The wrong side is grayish and felt. Streaks appear on each leaf, their number depends on the age of the plant. An adult willow has such veins from 12 to 16. A characteristic moment is that no matter how many veins a leaf has, their number will always be even.
The bush blooms in March and April, in direct proportion to temperature. In fact, willow blossoms a week after steady stable heat. In connection with this feature, a number of signs have emerged regarding the weather. For example, the sign that if there are warm days, but the willow does not bloom, means that a long cold snap is ahead.
How useful is this willow?
Ashen willow is not only a beautiful unpretentious plant that can become a hedge in a summer cottage. It has healing properties. It's about the bark of this shrub, not inferior to the white willow, famous in herbal medicine.
A decoction from the bark of this shrub has a number of actions on the body, including:
- antipyretic;
- choleretic;
- astringent;
- wound healing;
- hemostatic;
- anthelmintic;
- antibacterial;
- anti-inflammatory;
- painkiller;
- fastening.
The recipe involving willow bark in folk medicine is almost the same as the ways to use chamomile. Successfully fights the plant bark with fungal infections of the legs, with dandruff and many other pathologies.
Can it grow in the garden?
Ashen willow, like many related trees and shrubs, is easily cultivated. The shrub can solve many summer problems, especially those that arise in low-lying areas.
The plant is very hygrophilous and feels great, growing on marshy peatlands. That is, planting several bushes of ash willow can eliminate the excess moisture on the traditional six acres. This is often done in villages, but summer residents neglect plants that are not sold as seedlings. The second reason why citizens with suburban areas do not use willow is the fear of overgrowth of the shrub and its unpresentable appearance.
Ash willow does not grow in all directions, it is a spherical freestanding shrub. For example, to form a hedge site, you need to plant several bushes in a row at a distance of half a meter from each other. The bush tolerates a haircut, and, unlike many plants, perceives it at any time, regardless of flowering and other things. Accordingly, its external presentability is completely dependent on the gardener.
This willow is a densely pubescent plant. That is, it will never sparkle with bare branches of branches or show places of cuts.