Edible/Medicinal Uses: To prepare willow as a medicine, pick one that you can easily identify. Weeping willow is a common tree throughout North America. Though not native, it prospers in any moist area and can be identified by its perennially depressed and droopy twigs and branches. The leaves and bark have been used as medicine for centuries. Boil a handful of green leaves in one cup of water for 10 minutes to create an astringent. Soak a clean cloth in this brew and apply it directly to boils, abscesses, carbuncles, and ulcers when no other medical treatment is available. Scraping the bark off several twigs and soaking that in one cup of hot water for 10 minutes will give you a bitter tasting anti-diarrhea drink. Take a few sips every 2 hours, and continue until the symptoms subside. Bark from several other species in the willow family, including the black willow, has been used since at least 400 B.C. to treat inflammation and pain. Black willow bark contains salicin, a predecessor to aspirin. It was once common for people to chew directly on the shaved bark for pain and fever relief.

Tim MacWelch