Black Willow - Winter ID

Black Willow (Salix nigra) - Winter Tree ID. Help identify some features for ID when there are no leaves. Get to know our cousins, the trees!
blueforestplan...

[@nickfriedman5357]

Thank you. I am wanting to start making willow furniture for the first time and am setting out to identify trees for gathering material. This is made more difficult right now as it’s wintertime and I have no leaves to help me.

[@mimiwright567]

Thanks for this video! I’m trying to identify three of these near our home, and my husband insists they are willows, but they aren’t weeping willows. Ours are super tall and grow along watery area, just like you said, and have the distinctive multiple trunks that seem to sprout separately from the ground, with wispy branches all over.

[@blueforestplants1563]

There are a LOT of different willow species and most like wet or moist areas, so it helps to know which are present in your area and then you can start narrowing it down. Weeping Willow - Salix babylonica - has a pretty distinctive form. The branches are very flexible and will bend dramatically down, sometimes even touching the ground. Once you are familiar with it, it is pretty easy to ID, even from a distance. When in doubt, wait for spring and the flower and leaves as these provide an extra characteristic for ID.

[@thedodgestreetrings]

I find willows really difficult & am trying to learn how to differentiate between (native) black willow & (introduced but more common) crack willow. At least there are fewer willow trees to get confused by than all the little shrubby ones! I love all of them, though.