932 



Rural School Leaflet 



of which a fluid (with properties approaching those of gastric juice) is 

 secreted. The tube is hairy within, with downward-pointing, stiff hairs. 

 The single nodding flowers are borne on a leafless or nearly leafless stem, 

 arising from an underground part of the plant. The flower has five 

 sepals and five petals. 



This plant belongs to the pitcher plant family and has but few near 



kin. In bogs of Virginia and southward there is a flower called " trumpet," 



which is the only relative of the pitcher plant in our part of the country. 



The willow. — The willows are trees or shrubs that have buds with a 



single scale. The leaves are mostly long and pointed, 



1^ entire or glandular-toothed. Usually the branches are 



very slender. The willows are dioecious, that is, the 



staminate flowers are borne on one tree and the pistillate 



iwers on another. As many as 51 different species are Usted 



certain botanical works. 



A few of the more common willows are as follows: 



Basket willow, or osier, the twigs of which are used for 

 basketwork. It has lance-linear, entire, slender-pointed 

 leaves, 3 to 6 inches long and satiny white underneath. 



The black willow has a rough bark and 

 narrow-lanceolate, taper-pointed leaves, often 

 downy when young, green and smooth when 

 older, except the short petiole and midrib. It 

 ■grows on the banks of streams and lakes. 



The crack willow, or brittle willow, has smooth 



leaves from the first, green on both sides or 



only slightly paler beneath. The tree is tall 



and slender. The twigs are very brittle at the base, easily breaking 



away and growing into new plants when set in the ground. This tree 



is planted for shade and ornament. 



The weeping willow is a large tree with rough gray bark and slender, 

 green, elongated, drooping twigs. The leaves are at first silky, but quickly 

 become smooth. This tree is plantad for ornament, and has spread along 

 river banks and lake shores. 



The white willow is a large tree, the leaves of which are ashy gray or 

 silky white on both sides except when old. It is variable and often mixed 

 with crack willow. The forms with yellow twigs are cultivated. 



Some twenty species of willow are found growing wild in the North- 

 eastern and North Central States, but it is difficult even for botanists to 

 identify them. 



The willows belong to the willow family, in which we find but one other 

 kind of plant, the poplars, or aspens. 



Pitcher plant 



