THE WILLOW. 29 



ture. I have seen trees of this species growing as stand- 

 ards of immense size, with their branches always joining 

 the trunk very near the ground. On this account little 

 rustic seats and arbors are more frequently erected in the 

 crotch of a Willow than in that of any other tree. 



The most of our indigenous Willows are mere shrubs. 

 Though there are above thirty American species, but few 

 of them rise to the stature of trees. Some of them are 

 creeping plants and prostrate shrubs, some are neat and 

 elegant trees in miniature. Their branches are also of 

 many colors, some of a fine golden hue, spreading a sort 

 of illumination over the swamps where they abound ; 

 some are red; others with foliage so dark as to have 

 gained the name of Mourning Willow. Some, like our 

 common bog Willow, are called white, from their downy or 

 silken aments. One of the most beautiful of the small 

 species is the golden osier, or Basket Willow. The yellow 

 twigs of this shrub, coming up from the ground like grass 

 without subdivisions, but densely from one common root, 

 are very ornamental to low grounds. It would seem as 

 if Nature, who has given but little variety to the foliage 

 of this tree, had made up for its deficiency by caus- 

 ing the different species to display a charming variety in 

 their size. Thus, while the common yellow Willow equals 

 the oak in magnitude, there are many species which are 

 miniature shrubs, not larger than a heath plant. As one 

 of the beautiful gifts of nature, the Willow claims a large 

 share of our admiration. Though not a convenient orna- 

 ment of our enclosures, the absence of this tree from the 

 banks of quiet streams and glassy waterfalls, overhanging 

 rivers and shading the brink of fountains, would be most 

 painfully felt by every lover of nature. 



