THE CATKINS OF THE WILLOW 



which are natives of warmer dimates. Owing to 

 their early appearance, the willow blooms have 

 come into use at Easter ceremonies as symbolical 

 of the palms borne before Christ on His entry into 

 Jerusalem ; hence their popular name '' palm." 

 There are at least some fifteen or sixteen species 

 of British willows ; though, for reasons which I will 

 explain later, some botanists list a much larger 

 number than this. The tyro in botany usually 

 recognises some two or three species, such as the 

 weeping willow with its pensile branches ; the 

 familiar white willow, either in its natural form as 

 a large tree or in its deformed state with broad 

 trunk and pollard top by the river-side ; and 

 perhaps the osier of basket-making fame, which 

 is found in the same quarters as the last mentioned, 

 would make a third species ; the ^^ palm " might 

 be added as a fourth example but for the fact that, 

 owing to its popular name, it is not ordinarily 

 recognised as a willow. However, all the species 

 bear an inflorescence that more or less resembles 

 that of the ^^palm," or sallow; the latter, however, 

 is conspicuous on account of its large size and the 

 wide distribution of its species. It is the species 

 known to the botanist as Salix Caprea, and is 

 a familiar shrub throughout Europe and Asia, 

 extending even to the Arctic Circle ; in Britain it is 

 famihar to most people. 



The inflorescence of the '^ palm " willow (shown 

 in Figs. 77 and yS, Plates 54 and 55) is a catkin. 

 Having dealt with the catkin form of inflores- 

 cence, I need only say that these catkins also are 



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