Salix helix

Sahcyl alcohol [90-01-7] (saligenin, o-hydroxybenzyl alcohol) crystallizes from water in the form of needles or white rhombic crystals. It occurs in nature as the bitter glycoside, saUcin [138-52-3] which is isolated from the bark of Salix helix S. pentandra S. praecos some other species of willow trees, and the bark of a number of species of poplar trees such as Folpulus balsamifera P. candicans and P. nigra. 

The sensitivity of phenyl glycosides to alkali has been evident for over a century. As early as 1844, Bouchardat described the alkaline decomposition of salicin, a glucoside occurring in the leaves and bark of the willow (Salix helix). However, it remained for Tanret to discover the unique... 

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