Witnessed by: Ayurveda
Goat willow (Salix caprea), of the Salicaceae family. Small deciduous tree or large shrub with broad, downy-backed leaves and silky catkins that open before the leaf; native range: Europe and western and central Asia to the Himalaya, along streams, damp woodland edges and open wet ground. Globally recognized as vañjula · vetasa in Sanskrit, bed, bains in Hindi, and goat willow, pussy willow, sallow in English. The part used is bark. Grey-brown bark, smooth on the young wood and fissured on the old, breaking with a tough fibrous fracture; intensely bitter and strongly astringent, drying the mouth.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
GOAT WILLOW
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- goat willow
- Scientific name
- Salix caprea L.
- Family
- Salicaceae
Form
- Part used
- bark
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Ayurveda
- astringent (kashaya) · bitter (tikta)
Temperature
- Ayurveda
- cooling (shita)
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Ayurveda
- jvaraghna (antipyretic), vedanasthapana (relieves pain), shothahara (reduces swelling), vranashodhana-ropana (cleanses and heals wounds), kashaya (astringent), mutrala
Cautions
- Contraindications
- cold, vata-predominant conditions and a weak digestion; long courses in the depleted
- Toxicity
- the salicin-bearing bark may irritate a sensitive stomach in large or prolonged doses; otherwise low toxicity
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