AMFRTCAX FORESTRY 



they reach a friendly shore. The willow is easier to prop- 

 agate from cuttings than any other kind of tree. A small 

 section of a willow twig containing a bud or two, a piece 

 of a root, or e\-en a section of a large branch, when partly 



WILLOWS FUR PROTECTING RIVER BAXKS 



On the Mis.sissippi River these great mats are built to prevent the water from washinK away the banks. In the 

 background are seen barges loaded with willows, while in the foreground men are seen completing the mat. 



willow leaf, and strikingh- like those of the peach tree. 

 The glossy leaf or shining willow {Salix liicida) is a small 

 bushy tree or tall shrub that grows from Newfoundland 

 to Pennsylvania, Manitoba and Nebraska. Its name 

 gives the key to its chief distin- 

 guishing characters; it has heavy, 

 dark-green, gloss\- leaves and 

 highh- polished brown or \-ellow- 

 ish bark on its twigs. 



Pussy willow, also called 

 glaucous willow {Salix discolor). 

 rarely grows to be more than 20 

 or 25 feet high, and is usually a 

 shrub. Wherever it grows, from 

 Nova Scotia to Manitoba, south 

 to Delaware and Missouri, its 

 flowers are well known and wel- 

 comed as a sure sign of the 

 coming of spring. The catkins 

 are thick and oval, and at first 

 seem to be covered with gra\- fur 

 because of the abundance of silky 

 hairs that clothe the flower scales, 

 but later the catkins turn yel- 

 low as the flowers develop. The 

 leaves are coarsely toothed on the 

 margins, bright green above, and 

 covered with a whitish bloom on the lower surfaces. 

 Bebb's willow {Salix bebbiana) is found from the lower 

 St. Lawrence valley to Hudson Bay and Alaska, south 

 to Pennsylvania, Minnesota, South Dakota and through 



covered by moist soil, rapidly forms roots and shoots, and 

 develops into a tree. Willow twigs snapped off by the 

 wind often take root in the soft soil in which they lodge. 

 As may be surmised, freshly cut stumps of willow trees 

 send up numerous and \-igorous 

 sprouts. In Europe, and occa- 

 sionally in America, willow trees 

 are pollarded, that is, the tops of 

 the trees are cut some distance 

 above the ground to permit the 

 sprouts to grow into numerous 

 large branches, forming a spread- 

 ing, rounded head. 



The black willow {Salix nigra) 

 grows to the largest size of any 

 willow native to America. Its 

 name is derived from the rough, 

 flaky, dark-brown barl< on its 

 trunk. It ranges over the eastern 

 half of the United States, and it is 

 our largest native willow, reach- 

 ing a maximum height of 120 

 feet and a diameter of 3 feet. It 

 has narrow, lance-shaped leaves, 

 finely toothed at the edges, and 



the tij), or frequently the whole The m.-u being sunk at Slough Xcck Landing. Tennessee. The forepart is seen fast to the bank, and in the back- 

 , - - ., , ,. ground another large mat ready for sinking is visible. 



body of the leaf, curves to one 



SI.NKING THE BIG MAT 



side like a sickle. The almond-leaf or peach-leaved willow 

 {Salix amygdaloides) ranges across the continent from 

 Quebec and New York to Texas, Oregon and British 

 Columbia. It sometimes forms a medium-sized tree 40 

 to 70 feet high, and is one of the better-known native 

 willows because its leaves are broader than llie usual 



the Rocky Mountains to Arizona. It has showy cat- 

 kins much like those of the pussy willow. The leaves 

 are short and rather broad, dull green on to]), pale- 

 green and hairy beneath, with i)rominent veins. It is a 

 small bushy tree or shrub, and although it prefers moist 

 soils, as do other willows, it also thrives on dry soil. Sand- 



