Black Willow is a large, beautiful, fast-growing tree with weeping branches that feeds hundreds of caterpillar species and is a larval host to the Mourning Cloak, Viceroy, Red-spotted Purple and Tiger Swallowtail butterflies.  Black Willow is of special value to native bees, and it provides food and shelter for songbirds.
 
     Black Willow grows naturally in floodplains, along river banks, in swamps and marshes and near ponds.  It thrives in sunny, moist areas, and like all willows should be planted away from sewer lines.