Łódź, Botanical Garden

It is native to Europe, Siberia, the Middle East and North Africa. Edible plant - inner bark dried, ground into a powder then added to flour and used for making bread; a famine food, it is only used when all else fails. Herbal plant - the bark and the leaves are mildly diuretic, expectorant and stimulant; the plant is seldom used medicinally, but is sometimes included in propriety medicines for chronic prostate and bladder disorders; the bark of members of the genus contain salicin, a glycoside that probably decomposes into salicylic acid (aspirin) in the body.