832 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



grow well among stones in ordinary 

 garden soil. Sometimes certain of these 

 dwarf forms are grafted, generally on the 

 Sallow, on which their lives are very short, 

 and it is impossible for us to judge of 

 the value of such kinds as 5. repens var. 

 argentca and pcndula and S. ccEsia var. 

 Zabelipcndida, when stuck on the ends of 

 sticks of a wholly different nature. 



S. ALBA ( fry^Vf Willow).— X graceful and 

 stately tree of the marsh lands and river valleys 

 throughout Europe and Asia, common in 

 Britain, and often beautiful. It has several 

 varieties, particularly a silvery one, and a red 

 one (britzensis). Sometimes 80 ft. or more 

 high, with a trunk diameter of 6 to 7 ft. 



S. BABYLONICA [Weeping Wil/ow). — A 

 beautiful weeping tree, and the best known of 

 the Willows of this character, though not the 

 hardiest that we now know, and sometimes 



The Weeping Willow. 



liable to be cut off in cold districts. There is 

 a crisp-leaved variety. It is called Babylonian 

 because it was thought to be the tree under 

 which the Jews sat down to weep on the banks 

 of the Euphrates River, but it is now known 

 that the tree which grows on the banks of the 

 Euphrates and resembles a Willow is a Poplar, 

 having narrow Willow-like leaves. Japan and 

 China. S. Saloiiioni is a variety of this, and 

 seems to be a free-growing and most graceful 

 Willow, but with us not old enough to show 

 its true form. It is a very rapid growing tree, 

 as, indeed, most Willows are in river bank soils. 



S. BLANDA (Hybrid Weeping IViilow). — 

 This is a vigorous and fine Weeping Willow, 

 though not yet long enough in our country to 

 show its true habit. It is thought to be a 

 hybrid between the Babylon and Crack Wil- 

 lows having regard to its characteristics. 

 The leaves, long even at the base of the 

 branches, are 3 ins. to 5 ins. long by less than 

 I in. across. 



S. CAi'REA ( Withy, Sallow, Goat Willow). 

 — The commonest Willow, often a round. 



headed low tree, in our woodlands, and the 

 one which bears the pretty catkins early in 

 spring, and gathered at Easter, called I'alm 

 branches. It is used in nurseries throughout 

 Europe as a stock to secure the greatest 

 growth of various Willows, and usually with a 

 fatal result to the life of each kind grafted on 

 it. The Kilmarnock Willow is a weeping 

 variety of this Willow. It is usually grafted, 

 but in this case grafted on its own wild parent, 

 so that the contest between stock and scion 

 that takes place among grafted Willows does 

 not occur to the same extent, though even in 

 this case it would be best to increase the plant 

 from cuttings or layers, at least for those who 

 so desire it. 



S. ELEGANTissiMA. — A rapid-growing and 

 handsome weeping tree. Willows have a 

 curious way of crossing and intercrossing, 

 hybridising themselves in all sorts of ways, 

 and it is difficult to account for the origin of 

 this ; but from a garden point of view this is 

 not of so much consequence. It is tall, with 

 long and pendent branches, a yellowish-green, 

 often stained with russet, with a more spread- 

 ing habit and a larger crown than 6'. baby- 

 lonica. 



S. FRAGILIS {Crack Willow ; Withy).— K 

 fine and often picturesque tree of our river 

 valleys, and a native of Northern Europe and 

 Western Asia, including in it a variety of 

 forms, among the best being the Basford Wil- 

 low and the broad-leaved form, latifolia. S. 

 Rjisselliana, the Bedford Willow, is considered 

 a hybrid between this and the White Willow. 

 There is also an orange-twigged form of the 

 Crack Willow {S. decipiens). 



S. PENTANDRA [Bay-leaved Willow). — A 

 glossy leaved distinct looking Willow, some- 

 times almost a tree ; a native of Britain, mostly 

 towards the north or west, and the latest 

 flowering Willow. 



S. 1>URPUREA [Purple or Bitter Osier).— K 

 British Willow of some grace of habit, though 

 not quite a tree, and most intere ling from 

 being the origin of the Willow called American 

 by mistake. It is really a variety of this 

 species, and a very beautiful weeping bush, 

 which, however, is often lost by being grafted 

 on the common Withy, which soon kills the 

 tree. This Willow and its varieties and 

 hybrids are much grown in osier beds for 

 basket making, though not so much as the 

 osier. The pendulous form of the Purple 

 Weeping Willow, commonly called the 

 American Weeping Willow, is not very high, 

 but has pretty grey slender leaves, with 

 long flexible twigs. It is usually grafted and 

 grown as a single, umbrella-headed tree, 

 although it is much prettier grouped or massed 

 beside the water, and it is only then that one- 

 gets its extreme grace. This Willow is grafted 

 on the common Sallow — a usually coarse-grow- 

 ing Willow of which the shoots spring from 

 below the graft. If let alone for a year or two 

 they would soon make an end of the Purple 

 Willow, but by continually removing them 

 one may keep the tree alive. S. purpurea 



