In Europe, the osier willow is specifically grown and specially harvested for the basket and willow weaving trade. Cultivars have been developed to produce different coloured and textured 'rods'. "Osier stool beds are raised from cuttings and harvested annually as rods, most of these are peeled but some are used with the bark on. The conversion of these rods into baskets, furniture and fish traps is a highly skilled trade many hundreds of years old, and happily by no means dead yet." (Ref. Edlin H., Nimmo L. et al. "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Trees - Timber and Forests of the World". Leisure Books 1978). There is considerable potential for this tree in a country like Australia which imports all of its commercial cane.
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