7 oo 



SALIX. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



SALIX. 



rock garden, but they are more suited 

 for botanical collections. The dwarf 

 creeping kinds grown in gardens are 

 5. herbacea, S. lanata, S. reticulata, 

 and S. serpyllifolia, all natives of the 

 northern parts of Europe and America. 

 They grow well among stones in 

 ordinary garden soil. Sometimes cer- 

 tain 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 S. repens var. argentea and 

 pendula and 5. casia var. Zabeli pen- 

 dula, when stuck on the ends of sticks 

 of a wholly different nature. 



S. ALBA (White W.). A 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 feet or more high, with a 

 trunk diameter of 6 to 7 feet. 



The Weeping Willow. 



S. BABVLONICA (Weeping W.). A beau- 

 tiful weeping tree, and the best known 

 of the Willows of this character, though 

 not the hardiest that we now know, and 

 sometimes 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. 5. Salomoni 

 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 W.). 

 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 Willows, having regard 

 to its characteristics. The leaves, long 

 even at the base of the branches, are 3 

 inches to 5 inches long by less than i inch 

 across. 



S. CAPREA (Withy, Sallow, Goat W.). 

 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 Palm branches. It is used in nur- 

 series 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. 



S. ELEGANTISSIMA. A rapid-growing 

 and handsome weeping tree. Willows 

 have a curious way of crossing and inter- 

 crossing, 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 con- 

 sequence. It is tall, with long and pen- 

 dent branches, a yellowish-green, often 

 stained with russet, with a more spread- 

 ing habit and a larger crown than 5. 

 babylonica. 



S. FRAGILIS (Crack W. ; Withy). A 

 fine and often picturesque tree of our river 

 valleys, and a native of N. Europe 

 and W. Asia, including in it a variety 

 of forms, among the best being the Bas- 

 ford Willow and the broad-leaved form, 

 latifolia. S. Russelliana, 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 W.). A 

 glossy leaved distinct looking Willow, 

 sometimes almost a tree ; a native of 

 Britain, mostly towards the north or 

 west, and the latest flowering Willow. 



S. PURPUREA (Purple or Bitter Osier). 

 A British Willow of some grace of habit, 

 though not quite a tree, and most inter- 

 esting from being the origin of the Willow 

 called American by mistake. It is really 

 a variety of this species, and a very beau- 

 tiful 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 



