How do you recognise Purple willow (Salix purpurea)?

Leaf

Liliane Roubaudi, Tela Botanica · CC BY-SA 2.0

Purple willow

Salix purpurea L.

Also known as: Purple osier, Basket willow

Family: Salicaceae

2 to 5 m tall

Banks, hedgerows, basketry, cool and damp soils

Flowering: March – April

Full sun

Part shade

Hardy to -25°C

❓ How do you recognise this plant?

Its flexible, coloured shoots make it one of the osiers most used in traditional basketry. Goat willow has thicker shoots and broad, ovate leaves, downy beneath, typical of the early silky catkins, whereas purple willow has slender, flexible shoots, often tinged with purple, and narrow leaves.

🍃 Leaves

Deciduous, narrow, lanceolate, blue-green above, glaucous beneath

🌸 Flowers

Erect catkins appearing before the leaves, purplish-red stamens

🍎 Fruits

Small cottony capsules

🪵 Bark

Slender, flexible, dark purple shoots, much used in basketry

🗺️ Distribution

Europe, western Asia; common along watercourses throughout France.

🐝 Value for pollinators

Very early catkins (from February–March), a major source of pollen and nectar for the first bees of the year.

✂️ Horticultural uses

Planted on banks and in willow carrs, much used in basketry for its flexible purple shoots.

⚠️ Possible toxicity

No known toxicity.

⚠️ Look-alike species

Purple willow

Salix purpurea

Goat willow

Salix caprea

Goat willow has thicker shoots and broad, ovate leaves, downy beneath, typical of the early silky catkins, whereas purple willow has slender, flexible shoots, often tinged with purple, and narrow leaves.

🌿 Other Salicaceae to discover

White poplar

Populus alba

Weeping willow

Salix × sepulcralis 'Chrysocoma'

ℹ️ Educational profile — do not use it to judge whether a plant is edible or safe.

🌱 This database is constantly evolving — species and information are added and corrected regularly. Spotted a mistake? Report it below.