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Goat Willow
Goat Willow male catkins
Conservation status
Secure
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Malpighiales Family: Salicaceae Genus: Salix Species: S. caprea
Binomial name
Salix caprea L.

The Goat Willow (Salix caprea), also known as the Pussy Willow or Great Sallow, is a common species of willow native to Europe and northwestern Africa.

flowering catkins

The goat willow is a deciduous shrub or small tree, reaching a height of 6-14 m, rarely to 20 m. The leaves are 5-12 cm long and from 3-8 cm wide, broader than most other willows. The flowers are down-like 3-7 cm long catkins in early spring. The seeds are very small (about 0.2 mm) and have fine hairs to aid in dispersal; they require bare soil to germinate. Goat Willow is at home in both wet environments, such as riverbanks, and drier sites, wherever bare soil is available. Unlike almost all other willows, Goat Willow does not take root readily from cuttings; if a willow resembling a Goat Willow does root, it is probably a hybrid with another species of willow (hybrid willows are a frequent occurrence).

Both tannin and salicin can be extracted from Goat Willow bark. The tree is not considered a good source of timber as its wood is both brittle and known to crackle violently if burned. Its common name refers to its spring foliage being a favoured forage item of goats.

• In the Russian Orthodox Church pussy willows will be carried on Palm Sunday instead of palm branches (which do not grow that far north).
• In Poland, pussy willow is strongly tied to Easter Monday traditions.
• In 'The Sound of Music' when Marta is asked what one of her favourite things are, she replies 'Pussy Willow' (during the song "My Favourite Things")
• In The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, Imogene Herdman gets the part of Mary for the Christmas Pageant from Alice Wendlekin by threatening to stick a pussy willow down her ear. The author then goes on to explain that Ollie Herdman stuck one down his own ear, got an earache, and had to be taken to the hospital, put under, and have the sprouted pussywillow dug out of his ear.
• In an episode of Roseanne, Roseanne reminds Jackie of a time in their childhood when she made Jackie shove a pussywillow up her nose and had to go to the emergency room.
• "Goat Willow" is a song on the 1974 album, Hall of the Mountain Grill, by the space rock band Hawkwind.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Salix caprea

• List of Lepidoptera which feed on Willows