The willow tree is widespread throughout North America – in fact, throughout most of the world. The bark has long been used as a medicine, and the soft wood is ideal for countless wood projects.
MEDICINE
The bark of the younger shoots is strongest, and the bark is easiest to peel in spring when green. I try to peel off long strips of the bark, which I then dry and use when I needed. When dry, these strips of willow bark become brittle.
When the fresh or dried willow bark is steeped in water, the tea is good for headaches, fevers, and even hay fever. Due to its strong antiseptic properties, the tea can also be used as a good mouthwash, or used externally on wounds. A willow wash is said to work wonders on rheumatism sufferers. On occasional I have put a few handfuls of the bark into a hot bathtub when I feel particularly stiff.
Every now and then during one of my walks, someone will tell me that they have a headache. I peel off two slivers of bark from that ubiquitous plant of the streams, willow, and hand it to them.
“Take two pieces of bark and call me in the morning,” I’ll tell them. Most people laugh when I say this, but some people don’t get it because they aren’t familiar with willow or its history. The inner bark of willow contains salicin and is the original aspirin.
According to Dr. James Adams, author of “Healing with Medicinal Plants of the West,” a tea is made from the bark which is drunk for fevers, colds, sore throat, headaches, pains and malaria. The bark can also be chewed for a toothache. The willow was one of the important medicinal plants of the Western Indians. The bark was also crushed into a poultice and applied directly to the skin to relieve pain and reduce swelling. How does willow work medicinally? According to Adams, “Willow contains natural salicylates such as salicin, salicortin, tremulacin, populin, and others. Salicin is converted by intestinal flora to saligenin that is oxidized in the liver to salicylic acid. Willow bark can contain up to 10% salicin.” Aspirin was originally produced from willow bark, and its active ingredient is salicin.
IDENTIFYING WILLOW
Willow plants are somewhat diverse in appearance. Some are small and bushy, and others are tall trees. Their leaves are nearly all thin and lance-shaped, and the plant is always found along streams. I have seen them at sea level and higher than 8,000 feet. They are found throughout North America. You might not know offhand how to identify a willow, but I can assure you that you have driven by one or hiked by one each time you were by a stream.
Willow is also one of the best sources of craft material. Whenever I collect willow, I go into the thickest patches and I carefully cut only those branches I need with a sharp ratchet cutter. In all cases when I have returned to those areas, I find the best and healthiest growths of new willow where I had done my careful pruning.
MAKING FIRE WITH WILLOW
I collect straight dead pieces of willow branches for use in the primitive bow and drill for fire-making. Dried willow makes one of the best drill for fire-making. Typically, you want a perfectly straight piece, about as thick as your thumb, no more than 12 inches long for the drill. Willow is also an ideal wood to use for the baseplate in fire-making — the flat piece of wood onto which the drill is spun. In this case, I typically cut a segment about 10 inches long from a dry and straight willow branch, about three inches thick. I then split off the sides with a machete, so I’m left with a piece about 10 inches long, and evenly about ¾ of an inch thick. I square off the sides to create my base plate.
CRAFTS
Long straight willow stems are perhaps the single most useful plant in basket weaving. Willow is one of the most traditional materials used in baskets because it is light, easily worked, and it becomes flexible when soaked in water for about five minutes. Always scrape off the bark before using willow in your basketry projects.
ARCHERY BOWS
Though not the ideal wood for archery bows, willow has been commonly used for bows because it is common, easily worked, and found everywhere. I commonly use willow for beginning bow-making classes, because it can be cut, split, and reduced somewhat easily, often producing a workable bow in a day. All wood for bows must be dried before working. Then, to compensate for the willow’s lack of strength, the bow is made slightly wider, and slightly longer, than you might otherwise make it. Properly made and maintained, a good willow bow can bring home lots of small game, or just be used for target practice.
