Native Americans used the flexible stems for baskets, arrow shafts, scoops, and fish traps. Willows provided medicine for many ailments such as cuts, indigestion, worms, and stomach complaints. Wood medium hard, fine grained, lightweight, and brittle. When the stems are carved they result in a pattern of diamond-shaped cavities with a sharp contrast between the white sapwood and the reddish brown heartwood. Bebb Willow is carved into canes, lamp posts, furniture, and candle holders.
Bees are the chief pollinating agents.
Large quanities of lightweight seed are produced and dispersed in the spring, but seeds remain viable for only a few days. Seeds do not require a period of dormancy prior to germination, but successful establishment requires a moist, exposed mineral substrate that receives full sunlight. These conditions are best on recent deposits of alluvial silts and gravels along waterways or in silted-in, abandoned beaver ponds. Stem and root fragments root naturally if buried in moist soil. Damaged and cut stems produce prolific sprouts from the stem base or root collar.