Salix atrocinerea

Detail of a flower and

young leaves

Family: Salicaceae

  In winters end, the Rusty Sallow is the first deciduous tree to paint the landscape in green. The flowers come first, with a tannish green colour. Then come the leaves, bearing a sharp light green.

  This sallow is a riparian tree, which means it can be found mostly in riverbeds and pools, being very important to stabilize the rivers and their margins. It is also normally one of the first species to colonize degraded or humanized habitats.  Needless to say, it provides food for a lot of insects that are eaten by larger animals.

  It contains salicine, which is the basic component for the aspirin. The salix bark was already used to deal with headaches before the pill was invented.

Ilex aquifolium

Family: Aquifoliaceae

  How well do you know this famous tree? Everyone associates the holly with Christmas. Why? 
The holly is a remnant of the Laurissilva, a sub-tropical type of Forest which used to cover Europe before the last glaciation. It evolved so well to resist the cold that we now link it to winter. It bears red fruits in November and December, being valuable and rare food for many wild animals.
This species has separated male and female individuals, so not every tree will have fruits (the males don’t produce fruits!)

   So, why is Holly associated with Christmas?

 It’s actually a very old tradition, older than Christianity. Pagan Europeans celebrated the winter solstice, viewed as the birth of summer (and not Christ!) since days start to grow from that date. Holly was a sacred plant for them, especially in the winter when almost every other plant seems to faint.