32 FAMILIAR TREES 



the capsule has a slender stalk. The Sallow is a large 

 shrub or a small tree, fifteen to thirty feet high, fre- 

 quenting damp situations, the first to flower of our 

 British Willows, and, therefore, contributing the 

 "palm" for a March Easter. It is typically distin- 

 guished from the Goat Willow, into which some of its 

 varieties graduate, by its downy buds and twigs and 

 glaucous " obovate-lanceolate " leaves, with reddish 

 brown hairs on their under-surfaces, and with large 

 stipules. The Goat Willow, frequenting drier situ- 

 ations, is a small tree, with smooth buds, and large 

 broad, "ovate" leaves, having wavy margins with 

 rounded serrations. 



The detail necessary for their discrimination 

 proves the ornamental value of many of the forms of 

 Willow to be almost equal. The Almond-leaved, the 

 Bay-leaved, and the Crack Willows, producing their 

 bright o-olden flowers and graceful foliage simultane- 

 ously, are well worth planting by the water-side, as is 

 also the Common Osier, on account of the elegant out- 

 line of its long leaves. In the bare-boughed, moist 

 month of February, the glossy, brightly coloured young 

 twigs of many kinds have a peculiar charm ; but we have 

 too often to be content to see the larger sorts in the 

 grotesquely maltreated form of pollards : 



"The shock-head Willows, two and two." 



It is, however, when growing to its full natural 

 stature, and reflected in the clear water of a river, by 

 whose margin the Meadowsweet foams in creamy 

 luxuriance, that the White or Bedford Willows are 

 seen to the best advantage. 



