A Polish legend says that little kittens were playing catching butterflies by a river, when they suddenly fell.
The mother started crying and screaming for help. That’s when a Willow, on the bank of the river, bent with its long branches so that the kittens could hold on tightly. The saying goes that since then, in the spring, the willow branches sprout small flowers, which resemble the plush kittens, which the branches once saved.