Refers to slender lengths of wood pliable enough to be woven into wickerwork, and to weave baskets. Willow, Salix viminalis and S. purpurea – osiers – are grown and pollarded for their long straight shoots, which are harvested when young, stripped off the bark and treated.
Willows and rivers have a symbiotic relationship. Planted along the riverbanks or rines for the copious water they need, their entwined searching roots reinforcing the soil against erosion.