| Diamond willow | |
|---|---|
 A stick of diamond willow. | |
| Causal agents | Valsa sordida |
| Hosts | willow trees |
| EPPO Code | VALSSO |
Diamond willow is a type of tree with wood which is transformed into diamond-shaped segments that have alternating colors. Salix bebbiana, the most common, is a species of willow indigenous to Canada and the northern United States, from Alaska and Yukon south to California and Arizona and northeast to Newfoundland and New England. Among common names are beaked willow, long-beaked willow, gray willow, and Bebb's willow. This species is also called red willow by Native Americans according to The Arctic Prairies Appendix E by Ernest Tompson Seton.
The diamond shapes can be caused by a fungus (Valsa sordida and possibly others).[1] Diamond willow fungus is known to have medicinal properties and is used for both medical and ceremonial purposes by First Nations; it has been called a "sacred medicine."
Diamond willow is prized by wood carvers and furniture makers for its strong contrasting colors (red and white) and its sculptural irregularity of shape.
There are at least six different species that have been identified as being susceptible to diamonding, including Salix bebbiana (the most common[2]) plus S. pseudomonticola, S. arbusculoides, S. discolor, S. scouleriana, and S. alaxensis.
The diamonding is usually found with a branch at its center or is found in the Y of a tree. Diamonding in willow does not seem to be specific to an area that willows grow in, and where one bunch of willow will have diamonds, the next clump of willows may have none at all. Although diamond willow is often thought of as being a northern phenomenon, of the boreal forest, there is mention of diamond willow growing as far south as Missouri.
- ^ H.J. Lutz, "Observation on 'diamond willow,' with Particular Reference to Its Occurrence in Alaska", The American Midland Naturalist 60(1):176-185, 1958.
- ^ US Forest Service: S. bebbiana