Jews are customarily stringent in the standards for their Arba Minim. Since there are Rishonim who hold Aravos must be grown by the river to be kosher at all, why aren’t we zealous about this? Outside of Israel, it was often harder to obtain this kind of Aravos. Indeed, more and more Jews have begun to use only riverside Aravos. Sadly, they don’t last longer than the regular Aravos, so you still may need a few extra branches.
Hyehudi.org
Reviving a Dead Religion Once Known as ‘Judaism’
