Salix viminalis, the basket willow, common osier or osier, is a species of willow native to Europe, Western Asia, and the Himalayas.
Description
Salix viminalis is a multistemmed shrub growing to between (rarely to ) tall. It has long, erect, straight branches with greenish-grey bark. The leaves long and slender, 10–25 cm long but only 0.5–2 cm broad; they are dark green above, with a silky grey-haired underside. The flowers are catkins, produced in early spring before the leaves; they are dioecious, with male and female catkins on separate plants. The male catkins are yellow and oval-shaped; the female catkins are longer and more cylindrical; they mature in early summer when the fruit capsules split open to release the numerous minute seeds. Cultivation and use of the common osier was common in England in the 18th and 19th century, with osier beds lining many rivers and streams.
Other uses occur in energy forestry, and cadmium phytoremediation for water purification. and as such is a prime candidate for phytoremediation. For more information, see the list of hyperaccumulators.
Ecology
thumb|Salix viminalis (basket willow) at Krems an der Donau, Austria
Among the most common pathogens on S. viminalis are Melampsora spp. Female plants are more severely infected than male plants.