Willow

The willow is a large group of trees and shrubs with around 400 species worldwide. Willows are mainly found in the moist and cold soils of the North Hemisphere. Willows are "cross-fertile" sohybrid trees naturally occur - often making positive identifications of species more difficult. The leaves are typically linear-lanceolate and also usually are toothed, rounded at base, and acute or acuminate. Willow leaves can be a variety of greens from yellowish-green to a blue-green. Willows are dioecious which means the male and female flowers are on different plants. It is the male flower catkins or pussy willows that are an Early Spring favorite of young and old alike. The willow has been an important tree for its light weight wood, wicker, and medicinal purposes - its bark was the forerunner of asparin.