Food, Shelter, Medicine, Guardians of Mountain Streams — Willows Do it All

Flowering willows grace a San Juan mountain stream in June Photo courtesy Sage Grizzard

Flowering willows grace a San Juan mountain stream in June Photo courtesy Sage Grizzard

ne of the earliest flowers to bloom in springtime is a wellknownOshrub that many people don’t even think of as having flowers.Violets might come to mind when we imagine the first wildflowers of the season, but flowers don’t need to have petals, and our ubiquitous high-country willows demonstrate this beautifully when their fuzzy silver catkins, aka pussy willows make their fir...

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