68 



BUI.LETIN 145 



WILLOW FAMILY. SALICACEAE 



This family includes llie willows and poplars. The char- 

 acters of each of these are so similar that any close observer 

 soon distinguishes a willow or a poplar at sight. But it is quite 

 another thing to know which willow or which poplar is before 

 one. The species are all dioecious, that is the stamens and 

 pistils are borne on different plants. As a result the poplars 

 are dependent on wind and the willows on insects for pollina- 

 tion. Natural hybrids are more frequent than is commonly 

 known, between the closely related species of willow. Hence 

 any botanical student who will undertake their critical study 

 will find interesting problems in nearly every swamp or wayside 

 thicket. All of the poplars and four of the willows of Vermont 

 have the habit and size of trees and are included in "Trees of Ver- 

 mont" (pages 49-53)- Of these the black willow is the only 



one which will confuse the person 

 who is trying to recognize the 

 shrubby species. This black variety 

 is the commonest willow tree over- 

 hanging the stream banks and grow- 

 ing along lake shores and the younger 

 sprouts often form shrubby thickets. 

 This cut from the tree bulletin is 

 therefore included here to aid in dis- 

 tinguishing it. There are in addition 

 some fifteen species of willows in 

 Vermont which are more properly 

 termed shrubs. It is no simple mat- 

 ter even for the skilled botanist to 

 distinguish with certainty these fifteen 

 shrubby kinds. Fortunately for the beginner, only six of them 

 are at all common. So if one groups the tree species by them- 

 selves and focuses his attention on the characters outlined on 

 page 70 he may hope soon to recognize the common shrubby 

 species. 



Black Willow. 



Mature leaf and flower- 

 ing twigs, X Vs. 



(From Trees of Vt, p. 50) 



