264 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



(unless this would more properly be thrown among the Cor- 

 data) ; and $. Babylonica, nigra, and Purshi&na, the third. 



Sp. 9. The Crack Willow. S. frdgilis. L. Introduced. 



Figured in Sowerby's English Botany, Plate 1807, and in Loudon, VII, 



Plate 205. 



Leaves ovate-lanceolate, pointed, serrated throughout, very smooth ; foot- 

 stalks glandular; stipules half-heart-shaped, pointed, toothed ; ovaries on a 

 short stalk, oblong-ovate, smooth ; style short ; stigmas bifid, longer than the 

 style ; scale oblong, about equal to the stigmas and ovaries, pubescent, ciliated; 

 male flowers with an abortive ovary. — Hooker, British Flora, 1st ed. p. 417. 

 Loudon, Arboretum, 1516. 



"A tall, bushy-headed tree, sometimes found from eighty to 

 ninety feet in height, with the branches set on obliquely, some- 

 what crossing each other, not continued in a straight line out- 

 wards from the trunk, by which character it may readily be 

 distinguished in winter." — Sir J. E. Smith. The branches are 

 round, and "so brittle at the base, in spring, that with the 

 slightest blow they start from the trunk." Hence is derived 

 its name, and from this fact Sir J. E. Smith infers that the 

 wood cannot have the valuable properties which have been 

 attributed to it, they belonging, of right, to the Bedford willow. 



If this is the only ground of his decision, it is a rash one, 

 since most of the willows in this country which are remarkable 

 for toughness, are also remarkable for breaking easily at the 

 base of the branches, in spring, and, indeed, at other seasons. 

 The long branches which form the head of this fine tree should 

 have shown that they must have considerable strength to resist 

 the force of the wind at such a height. And a practical man, 

 Mr. Mathew, gives a very different opinion. " The red-wood 

 Avillow, or stag's-head osier, {S. frdgilis,) produces timber su- 

 perior to that of any other tree willow. It is much used in 

 Scotland for building small vessels ; and especially for fast-sail- 

 ing sloops of war, by reason of its lightness, pliancy, elasticity, 

 and toughness. The wood, when dry, is easily known from 

 that of all other willows, by its being of a salmon color ; on 

 which account it is sometimes used in cabinet-making and for 

 children's toys." — London, Arb., 1460. 



