The White Willow of the Isar Floodplain

A white willow is normally one of a crowd. It is the pioneer of the gravel bar, the first thing to root after a flood has scoured the bank, and it grows in thickets because that is how the river plants it. This one grew up alone, and Munich's 2021 natural monument ordinance protects it for exactly that: a mighty, solitary and striking tree, rare within the city at this size. It stands on the left bank of the Isar in the northern floodplain beyond Freimann, where the river is still allowed to sprawl across shingle and side channels instead of running between engineered banks. The German name for the species is Silberweide, silver willow, and on a windy day you see why: the leaves are white underneath, so a gust turns the whole crown pale in one movement. Nothing else on the riverside path does that. Willows put on wood fast and hollow out early, which means girth says very little about years here. The city recorded no age, no other source names this tree, and any number we offered would be arithmetic dressed up as a fact. If you have measured it, or watched it through a few floods, we would rather have your account than our guess. The riverside path runs past it and is open all year.