Sharp-leaf willow grows wild from northern Europe across Siberia and Central Asia to the Caucasus, usually on moist ground near water. Each plant is either male or female, and its early catkins are visited by bees and other insects. Its extensive root system binds sandy soil, and it tolerates heavy clay and exposed sites.
The German botanist Carl Ludwig Willdenow named the species, and acutifolia means sharp-leaved. Its flexible stems have long been cut back annually and harvested for basketry. Because it is very cold-hardy, it became a long-standing shelterbelt and windbreak plant on the Canadian prairies, although much of what is sold under this name is of hybrid origin. A male selection, 'Blue Streak', has the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.