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Salix nigra
Cultivated Specimen Morton Arboretum acc. 180-88-3
Conservation status
Secure (TNC)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Magnoliopsida
Order:	Malpighiales
Family:	Salicaceae
Genus:	Salix
Species:	S. nigra
Binomial name
Salix nigra Marshall

Salix nigra (Black Willow) is a species of willow native to eastern North America, from New Brunswick and southern Ontario west to Minnesota, and south to northern Florida and Texas.^[2]

Description

Flowers

It is a medium-sized deciduous tree, the largest North American species of willow, growing to 10-30 m tall, exceptionally up to 45 m, with a trunk 50–80 cm diameter. The bark is dark brown to blackish, becoming fissured in older trees. The shoots are slender, variable in color from green to brown, yellow or purplish; they are (like the related European Salix fragilis) brittle at the base, snapping evenly at the branch junction if bent sharply. The foliage buds are small, 2–4 mm long, with a single pointed reddish-brown bud scale. The leaves are alternate, long, thin, 5-15 cm long and 0.5-2 cm broad, usually somewhat falcate, dark, shiny green on both sides or with a lighter green underside, with a finely serrated margin, a short petiole and a pair of small stipules. It is dioecious, with small, greenish yellow to yellow flowers borne on catkins 2.5-7.5 cm long in early spring at the same time as the new leaves appear. The fruit is a 5 mm capsule which splits open when mature to release the numerous minute, down-covered seeds. It is typically found along streams and in swamps.^[3][4][5]

Salix gooddingii (Goodding's Willow) is sometimes included in S. nigra as a variety, as S. nigra var. vallicola Dudley; when included, this extends the species' range to western North America. However, the two are usually treated as distinct species.^[6]

Largest Example

The largest know example of this tree is the Marlboro Tree which is located in Marlboro Township, New Jersey. This tree is certified by the State of New Jersey as the largest know example of this tree in New Jersey. It is about 152 years old and measures 76 feet in height and 19' 8" in circumference. Five grown people must hold hands to fully encircle the tree.^[7]

Uses

Black Willow roots are very bitter, and have been used as a substitute for quinine in the past. The Great Lakes Ojibwa used the young branches and twigs to make baskets and other parts were used to treat indigestion. The bark of the tree can also be used to make a bitter tea with similar chemical compounds to aspirin.

Another name occasionally used for Black Willow is "swamp willow", not to be confused with Salix myrtilloides (Swamp Willow).

References

From Wikispecies

Salix nigra

Taxonavigation

Classification System: APG II (down to family level)

Main Page
Cladus: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiospermae
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: core eudicots
Cladus: Rosids
Cladus: Eurosids I
Ordo: Malpighiales
Familia: Salicaceae
Genus: Salix
Subgenus: S. subg. Salix
Sectio: S. sect. Humboldtianae
Species: Salix nigra

Name

Salix nigra Marshall

References

• Arbust amer. 139. 1785
• USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network - (GRIN) [Data from 07-Oct-06]. 102718

Distribution

North America, extending from New Brunswick to western Ontario and California.

For more multimedia, look at Salix nigra on Wikimedia Commons.