CATKIN-BEAEING TRIBE 161 



obscurely crcnate, white and silky beneath ; stipules nearly lanceolate, very 



small ; ovaries almost sessile ; stigmas long and slender. This is one of the 



most common of our native Osiers, the word "osier" being applied to those 



Willows used in basket-work. It is largely cultivated in the osier-holts or 



willow-garths, as such grounds are called in Yorkshire, and it grows wild in 



many wet meadows — 



" Wliere tlie Willow keeps 

 A patient watch over the stream that creeps 

 Wanderingly by it." 



Although the erect form of the branches of this tree renders it unattrac- 

 tive, yet the long narrow leaves are pretty, with their glossy, satiny under 

 surfaces. They grow almost erect, and are about six inches long, slightly 

 waved or curled under at the edges, and of full green above. The numerous 

 showy catkins adorn the boughs in April and May. The slight and twiggy 

 branches of this Osier are very valuable in basket-work, and the tree is often 

 called Twiggy Willow. Its twigs have many rustic uses ; for, as the old 

 Italian proverb says, "AYillows are weak, but they bind other wood," and 

 many a schoolboy sits patiently by the river, when 



" The captive fish still fills the anxious eyes, 

 . And willow-wicks lie ready for the prize ;" 



or could say with Clare — 



" And oft with anxious feeling would I climb 

 The waving willow-row a stick to trim, 

 To reach the water-lily's tempting flower, 

 That on the surface of the pool did swim." 



All sorts of baskets, from the rough hamper to the delicate work-basket 

 of the lady's boudoir, are made of the boughs of this Osier. If we were of 

 Fuller's opinion we might look with satisfaction on the Osiers, because, as he 

 quaintly says, " They in some sort saved the life of St. Paul, when he was 

 let down from the walls of Damascus by a basket." The boughs are also 

 often used for hoops. 



21. The Stipuled or Auricled-leaved Osier or Willow {S. stipu- 

 Idris). — Leaves lanceolate, very slightly crenate, white and downy beneath; 

 stipules large, half heart-shaped, acute, often with a tooth or lobe at the' 

 base ; ovaries nearly sessile ; stigmas long and slender. This, too, is a 

 common tree in osier-holts, and grows in the hedges about Bury St. Edmunds, 

 flowering in March. It has long, upright, soft, and downy twigs, of a pale 

 reddish-broAvn colour. Though nearly allied to the last, and differing in 

 appearance chiefly in its larger, coarser leaves, which are also less white 

 beneath, and in the stipules, which are very conspicuous on the under 

 shoots, yet it is, for economic purposes, very inferior to the Common Osier, 

 on account of the brittleness of its twigs. The leaves are very abundant, 

 about six inches long, with short fine down beneath, and a reddish or 

 pale midril:). 



22. Silky-leaved Osier Smith's or Willow {S. sniifJiiiiua). — Leaves 

 lanceolate, slightly crenate, white and glossy beneath ; stipules very small, 

 narrow, acute ; ovaries distinctly stalked ; stigmas long and slender. This 



III.— 21 



