1,173 bytes added
, 11:51, 19 November 2007
{{Taxobox
| color = lightgreen
| name = Purple Willow
| status =
secure
| image = Cleaned-Illustration Salix purpurea.jpg
| image_width = 240px
| image_caption = Purple Willow illustration
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Dicotyledon|Magnoliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Malpighiales]]
| familia = [[Salicaceae]]
| genus = ''[[Willow|Salix]]''
| species = '''''S. purpurea'''''
| binomial = ''Salix purpurea''
| binomial_authority = [[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]]
}}
The '''Purple Willow''' or '''Purple Osier''' (''Salix purpurea'') is a species of [[willow]] native to most of [[Europe]] and western [[Asia]]. It is a [[shrub]] to 1-2 m tall. The [[Leaf|leaves]] are 2-8 cm long and 1-2 cm wide, and, unusually for a willow, often arranged in opposite pairs rather than alternate. The [[flower]]s are small [[catkin]]s, produced in early spring; they are often purple in colour, whence the name of the species (other willows mostly have whitish, yellow or green catkins).
This willow species is often used in [[basket]]ry.
{{Commons|Salix purpurea}}
{{tree-stub}}
[[Category:Salicaceae|Willow, Purple]]
[[Category:Medicinal plants]]