How does the willow tree disperse its seeds?
Willow is the general term for plants in the Salicaceae family such as Hankow willow, glandular willow, and weeping willow. They are widely distributed throughout our country and have very broad adaptability to the environment, suitable for various ecological environments. They can grow in mountains, plains, sand dunes, and polar regions alike. Their lifespan is generally 20-30 years, and a few species can reach over a hundred years. Let us take a look below at what the willow tree uses to disperse its seeds!
What does the willow tree use to disperse its seeds?
The willow tree disperses its seeds by wind. Willow seeds generally mature in April to May. The seeds are very small, with white fuzz on them, and because they scatter in the wind like floating catkins they are called willow catkins. The willow tree relies on the drifting of these willow catkins to spread its seeds far away to take root and sprout. Plants that also rely on wind to disperse seeds include poplar and dandelion.
What are the uses of willow seeds?
1. Treating hematemesis: willow catkins, any amount, roasted dry, ground into fine powder, taken with warm rice water.
2. Treating metal-wound bleeding that will not stop: seal the wound with willow catkins.
3. Treating all kinds of virulent toxins, with pus and blood, swelling and pain that will not ulcerate: apply willow catkins on top, the pus drains and the toxin is reduced.
4. Treating facial sores that form pus-filled pockets like fragrant petals: willow catkins (pounded into powder) and greasy powder, take the above two ingredients in equal parts, grind evenly, mix with oil and apply.
What are the common varieties of willow trees?
1. Weeping willow: branches slender and drooping, leaves narrowly lanceolate or linear-lanceolate, strong vitality, one of the common tree species, and also a commonly used street tree in landscaping. It is produced in the Yangtze River basin and the Yellow River basin and cultivated everywhere, and has been introduced and planted in countries across Asia, Europe, and the Americas.
2. Hankow willow: branches upright or spreading obliquely, leaves widest in the middle, base rounded or broadly wedge-shaped, light-loving, cold-tolerant, able to grow in both wetlands and dry land, well-developed root system, strong wind resistance, often grows in dry land or wet waterlogged land, and has not yet been introduced and cultivated artificially.
3. White willow: crown broadly ovate, leaves lanceolate to oblanceolate, young leaves with silvery-white silky hairs on both sides, mature leaves usually hairless on top, slightly downy or nearly hairless beneath, inflorescence relatively long, **, cultivated in Gansu, Qinghai, Tibet and other provinces and regions.
4. Purple willow: leaves small, in a fine spindle shape, green and smooth, branches relatively dense, plant hemispherical, male inflorescence with sparse flowers, female flower glands 2, flowering period April, distributed in Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and other provinces in our country.