pussy willow

Male flowers provide pollen for bees, and it is a popular larval host, supporting the Acadian hairstreak, black-waved flannel moth, cecropia moth, Compton's tortoiseshell, cynthia moth, dreamy duskywing, eastern tiger swallowtail, elm sphinx, imperial moth, Io moth, modest sphinx, mourning cloak, polyphemus moth, promethea moth, red-spotted purple, small-eyed sphinx, twin-spotted sphinx, and viceroy.

== References ==

Like other willows, it contains salicin, and was used by Native Americans as a painkiller. As with the closely related Salix caprea (European pussy willow), it is also often grown for cut flowers. The flowering shoots are used for spring religious decoration on Palm Sunday, as a replacement for palm branches, which do not grow in much of North America. Various Eastern European peoples carry pussy willows on Palm Sunday instead of palm branches. This custom was brought to North America by Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Romanian Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, Ruthenian Catholic, Ukrainian Catholic, Kashubian Catholic and Polish Catholic émigrés. Sometimes, on Palm Sunday, they will bless both palms and pussy willows in church. The branches will often be preserved throughout the year in the family's icon corner. Pussy willow also plays a prominent role in Polish Dyngus Day (Easter Monday) observances, continued also among Polish-Americans.