The Indian Willow

The Indian Willow, or Salix tetrasperma, is known as “neervanji” in Tamil and as “baigai” in Baduga. It is native to India and found in many parts of south and southeast Asia, including Pakistan, Nepal, Laos, and Thailand. The wood is excellent for furniture and agricultural implements and in India used to fashion cricket bats and stumps!

The tree is adapted to anaerobic conditions. In the dry season when the swamp and ponds have no water the tree bears lush green leaves. However, in the wet season when the soil is saturated with water, the tree sheds its leaf. The phenomenon is the reverse to that exhibited by other species in the same climatic zone which shed their leaves in the dry season and bear leaves in the wet months. This is due to the soil aeration. When during the rainy season water is stagnant an anaerobic situation is created, causing leaf shedding in order to withstand poor soil aeration; in the dry months the soil aeration is good and the plant bears new flush and turns lush green.

The tree is deciduous and found in wet and swampy places – usually an indicator of water – and grows to medium height, occasionally larger. It’s rough bark has vertical fissures and its lance-like leaves (8-15 cm) are silky, the margins finely toothed. The flowers of the willow are sweet scented and in catkins between 8-12 cm, and bloom in the last months of winter when the tree is leafless. The fruit is a capsule, appearing in clusters of 3-4. The tree may be propagated through cuttings, a method widely used to its success when compared to germinating viable seeds.

The twigs of the willow are woven into mats and baskets and its leaves are used in medicine. The tree is the larval host plant for butterflies (Phalanta phalantha, Neptis hylas, Neptis jumbah). In Manipur the new flowers of Indian willow, known as “ooyum”, are a delicacy.
References:

Forest Plants of The Nilgiris- Nothern Nilgiri Biosphere reserve(2008). Keystone Foundation.

Panwar, Pankaj and Sumit Chakravarty (2010). Performance of rice under simultaneous agrisilviculture system in terai zone of West Bangal.Indian J.of Agroforestry, NRCAF, Jhansi