Parts Used: Bark.

Habitat: It is a native of Central and Southern Europe and North America.

Willows are native to Central and Southern Europe and North America.  The Willow is a large tree with a rough grayish bark and twigs which are brittle at the base.  The leaves are pubescent on both surfaces and finely serrulate.  It hybridizes well with other species of Salix and it flowers in April and May.  The bark is easily separable throughout the summer and its flowers and leaves appear coincidently from March to June.

The bark and leaves are very effective to break and bring down minor fevers and colic. The bark is most helpful to treat diarrhea and dysentery, headache and neuralgia. It has been used in dyspepsia connected with debility of the digestive organs.  The leaves and bark of the willow tree have been mentioned in ancient texts from Assyria, Sumer and Egypt as a remedy for aches and fever and the Ancient Greek physician Hippocrates wrote about its medicinal properties in the 5th century BC.  Native Americans across the American continent relied on it as a staple of their medical treatments.  This is because they contain salicylic acid, the precursor to aspirin.