is^5-^-e> 



BLACK WILLOW 



(Salix nigra ]\Iar.sli.) 



THE black willow is common along streams 

 throughout the State. It rarely comes to be over 

 50 feet in height and is frequently found growing 

 singly or in clumps along the water courses. In 

 winter the easily separable, bright reddish-brown 

 or golden, naked twigs are quite conspicuous. 



The leaves are from 3 to 6 inches 

 long and less than one-half an 

 inch wide ; the tips are very much 

 tapered and the entire margins 

 finely toothed,. The leaves are 

 bright green on both sides, turn- 

 ing pale yellow in the early au- 

 tumn. 



The flowers are in catkins, the 

 male and female on separate trees. 

 The fruit is a pod bearing nu- 

 merous minute seeds which are 

 furnished with long silky down, 

 enabling them to be blown long 

 distances. 



The bark is deeply divided into 

 broad, flat ridges whch separate 

 into thick plate-like scales. On old 

 trees it becomes very shaggy. In 

 color it varies from light brown 

 tinged with orange to dark brown 

 or nearly black. 



The wood is soft, light and not 

 strong. A liigh grade of charcoal, 



used in the manufacture of gun-powder, is obtained 

 from willow wood, and it is the chief Avood used in 

 manufacture of artificial limbs. 



There are many species, or kinds, of willows not 

 easily distinguished. They are of high value in 

 checking soil erosion and waste along stream banks, 

 for which purpose they should be more extensively 

 grown. 



■^>-mp<^'^' 



liLXCK WILLOW 

 Two- thirds 

 natural size. 



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