Interesting facts about fruit and seeds

Properties at a glance

• Type of fruit: capsule fruit
• Time of fruit ripening: May to June
• Shape of the fruit heads: oblong

Release the seeds

After the leaves shoot from April to May, the white willow flowers appear. These are the well-known kittens, which have a cylindrical shape and have striking hair. They can reach a length of up to seven centimeters. You can recognize male kittens by their yellow color. The female flowers, on the other hand, are green at first, but later form a woolly, white coating.
The kittens are pollinated by insects. The white willow attracts bees in particular. Because the deciduous tree opens its flowers before all other tree species native to the area, it serves as an important source of nectar for the busy honey collectors. The flowers later develop into small capsule fruits that contain a white, densely hairy seed. In July at the latest, but usually as early as June, the seeds are ripe so that the white willow can reproduce independently. It uses the wind to spread it. However, the seeds only have a short-term ability to germinate.

Special features of cultivated forms

In order to adapt the deciduous tree ideally to the environmental conditions, the white willow is often used to breed so-called hybrids. The well-known weeping willow is a special cultivated form of this species. Actually, willows only have the flowers of a single sex, with the male population predominating. With the weeping willow it is noticeable that female kittens also appear next to the male.