One day, after a long, exhausting chase, some of Roosevelt's friends cornered an American black bear, which they tied to a willow tree, and they called upon the President to shoot it.

BBC: A Point of View: The grown-ups with teddy bears

Aspirin, for example, was originally derived from willow bark, and the anticancer drug Taxol comes from the bark of the Pacific yew tree.

FORBES: Ancient Secrets