46. SALIX ALBA YELLOW WILLOW. 37 



Fuel Value, 0.4425; Coefficient of Elasticity, 39062; Modulus of Rup- 

 ture, 424; Resistance to Longitudinal Pressure, 213; Resistance to In- 

 dentation, 93; Weight of a Cubic Foot in pounds, 27.77. 



USES. The wood of this species is not of much commercial value, 

 though useful for charcoal and fuel. The bark is rich in tannin and has 

 been used to some extent for tanning purposes. The slender branches 

 are sometimes employed in basket-making. 



MEDICINAL PROPERTIES which are common to the genus are found in 

 the bark and are readily yielded to water. A decoction of this is astrin- 

 gent and feebly tonic and used as a febrifuge in domestic practice. The 

 active principle is salicin, and it has been efficacious in the treatment of 

 rheumatism, and as an antiperiodic it appears to possess some controlling 

 influence over malarial disorders. Salicylic acid very valuable in 

 medicine and the arts can be derived from salicin, but at an expense 

 so much greater than with other known sources as to be impracticable.* 



46. SALIX ALBA, L. Var. VITELLINA, KOCH. 



YELLOW WILLOW, GOLDEN OSIER. 

 Ger,, Dottenveide ; Fr., Saule jaune ; Sp., Sauce amarillo. 



SPECIFIC CHARACTERS. Leaves lanceolate or elliptic-lanceolate, taper-pointed and 

 tapering to the petiole, serrate with thickened teeth, smooth (or sometimes slightly 

 pubescent) above and more or less supplied with silky hairs beneath; stipules small, 

 lanceolate, deciduous. Flowers (May with the leaves) in peduncled, long, loose 

 catkins at the ends of lateral leafy shoots of the season; scales ovate-lanceolate, 

 greenish-yellow, pubescent outside and deciduous; stamens 2; ovary nearly sessile, 

 ovate-lanceolate, smooth; "styles very short; stigmas thick, 2-lobed, recurved. Fruit 

 matures in June. 



Variety mtellina differs from the true alba in having bright yellow branches and 

 shorter and broader leaves. Another variety (Var. coerulea) has leaves quite smooth 

 beneath and are of a bluish cast. 



A fine large willow of very rapid growth, sometimes 60 ft. (18 m.) in 

 height and 3 or 4 ft. (1 m. ) in diameter of trunk, with smooth bright 

 yellow twigs and brownish-gray roughly furrowed bark of trunk. 



HABITAT. Introduced into this country from Europe and now very 

 common, seemingly almost naturalized. It is a tree of wide range and 

 grows luxuriantly wherever set in sufficiently damp soil. 



PHYSICAL PROPERTIES. Wood soft, light, not strong, easily worked 

 and taking a beautiful polish. The abundant sap-wood is nearly white 

 and the irregular heart-wood reddish-brown, most marked along the line 

 of transition. 



USES. The most important use is as a shade tree, for wind-breaks 

 and for setting along the banks of streams to prevent erosion. For this 



*U. S. Dispensatory, 16th ed., p. 1316. 



