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Salicaceae FAMILY

Salix × fragilis

Salix × fragilis

Edibility
1/5
Medicinal
3/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitDeciduous Tree
GrowthFast

Salix fragilis is a very cold-hardy plant, able to tolerate temperatures down to around -25°c when fully dormant. Succeeds in most soils, including wet, ill-drained or intermittently flooded soils,[1] but prefers a deep damp, heavy soil in a sunny position[2, 3]. Tolerant of poorer soils than Salix alba[4]. Rarely thrives on chalk[3]. Succeeds in an exposed position[4]. The branches are highly brittle at their base - these can snap off quite easily and when they fall to the ground will often form roots and grow into new plants so long as the soil is moist[5]. This species is a natural hybrid between Salix euxima and Salix alba, with which species it freely hybridizes[2]. A very important food plant for the caterpillars of many butterfly species[6] and a good bee plant, providing an early source of nectar and pollen[2]. A great number of different clones have been cultivated[7]. Best if planted into its permanent position as soon as possible. The root system is rather aggressive and can cause problems with drains[3]. The tree can provide construction timber by the age of 15 - 20 years; hence it is favoured for cultivation in parkland and steppe areas of Russian and countries of the former USSR[8].. Plants in this genus are notably susceptible to honey fungus[3]. Plants are very amenable to coppicing or pollarding and can be cut back annually if required[4]. A dioecious species - both male and female forms must be grown if fruit and seed are required.

Propagation

This is a hybrid species and seed does not generally brred true. Willow seed is very small and light, and has a very short viability, perhaps as little as a few days in some species. It must be surface sown as soon as it is ripe. In nature the seed only germinated in disturbed soils in an open situation. In nursery conditions, sow the seed in a tray in a moderately sunny position and keep the soil moist. Germination is usually quite rapid - prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle and grow on until large enough to plant out. Plants generally establish better if planted out whilst quite small. Cuttings of mature wood of the current year's growth or older can root at almost any time of the year, though late autumn is considered best as this produces a better balance of root and stem growth the following spring[9]. Plant them in a sheltered outdoor nursery bed or straight into their permanent position and give them a good weed-suppressing mulch. Most species are very easy. Plant into their permanent positions in the following autumn. Cuttings of half-ripe wood, early to mid summer in a frame. Very easy. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Salix+%C3%97+fragilis>

Pollinators

Bees

References

  1. [1]RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 — F. Chittendon. · Oxford University Press · 1951 · ISBN - ↩︎Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaced in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [ 200 ]).
  2. [2]Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement. — Bean. W. · Murray · 1981 · ISBN - ↩︎A classic with a wealth of information on the plants, but poor on pictures.
  3. [3]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  4. [4]Planting Native Trees and Shrubs. — Beckett. G. and K. · Jarrold · 1979 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent guide to native British trees and shrubs with lots of details about the plants.
  5. [5]Flora of N. America — http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/fna/ ↩︎An on-line version of the flora with an excellent description of the plant including a brief mention of plant uses.
  6. [6]Butterflies and Moths in Britain and Europe. — Carter D. · Pan · 1982 · ISBN 0-330-26642-x ↩︎An excellent book on Lepidoptera, it also lists their favourite food plants.
  7. [7]Mansfeld's Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Plants — http://mansfeld.ipk-gatersleben.de/pls/htmldb_pgrc/f?p=185:3:4292127278597336 ↩︎Terse details of a huge range of useful plants.
  8. [8]Flora of the USSR. — Komarov. V. L. · Israel Program for Scientific Translation · 1968 · http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org · ISBN - ↩︎An immense (25 or more large volumes) and not yet completed translation of the Russian flora. Full of information on plant uses and habitats but heavy going for casual readers. It can be downloaded from the Internet.
  9. [9]New Trees — Grimshaw J.; Bayton R.; Wilks H. · Kew Publishing; London · 2009 · ISBN 1842461737 ↩︎Provides comprehensive botanical descriptions and horticultural commentary on over 800 tree species that have been introduced to cultivation in recent decades.
  10. [10]Flora of the British Isles. — Clapham, Tutin and Warburg. · Cambridge University Press · 1962 · ISBN - ↩︎A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.
  11. [11]Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. — Hedrick. U. P. · Dover Publications · 1972 · ISBN 0-486-20459-6 ↩︎Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.
  12. [12]Tanaka's Cyclopedia of Edible Plants of the World. — Tanaka. T. & Nakao S. · Keigaku Publishing; Tokyo · 1976 · ISBN - ↩︎The most comprehensive list of edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.
  13. [13]Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. — Facciola. S. · Kampong Publications · 1990 · ISBN 0-9628087-0-9 ↩︎Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.
  14. [14]Discovering Wild Plants - Alaska, W. Canada and the Northwest. — Schofield. J. J. · Alaska Northwest Books; Alaska · 2003 · ISBN 0882403699 ↩︎A nice guide to some useful plants in that area.
  15. [15]BoDD (Botanical Dermatology Database) — http://bodd.cf.ac.uk/ ↩︎Brief notes on a very wide range of plants that have reports of causing harm to the skin.
  16. [16]Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. — Bown. D. · Dorling Kindersley, London. · 1995 · ISBN 0-7513-020-31 ↩︎A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.
  17. [17]Native American Ethnobotany — Moerman. D. · Timber Press. Oregon. · 1998 · ISBN 0-88192-453-9 ↩︎Very comprehensive but terse guide to the native uses of plants. Excellent bibliography, fully referenced to each plant, giving a pathway to further information. Not for the casual reader.
  18. [18]Dictionary of Economic Plants. — Uphof. J. C. Th. · Weinheim · 1959 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
  19. [19]A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. — Usher. G. · Constable · 1974 · ISBN 0094579202 ↩︎Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.
  20. [20]Vegetable Tannins — Rottsieper. E.H.W. · The Forestal Land, Timber and Railways Co. Ltd. · 1946 · ISBN - ↩︎A fairly detailed treatise on the major sources of vegetable tannins.
  21. [21]CosIng — http://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/ ↩︎CosIng is the European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients.
  22. [22]IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — http://www.iucnredlist.org/ ↩︎A list of plants under threat and facing possible extinction, usually with brief details of the threats and information on habitat.
  23. [PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎