56 TREES GROWING NEAR WATER. 



is soft and weak and from the bark a tonic is extracted that has 

 considerable efficacy in the curing of fevers. 



The willows that are native to America are mostly small and 

 do not always become arborescent, many of them being shrubs. 

 Of them, Salix nigra is the most conspicuous. The introduced 

 ones are large and generally fine trees. 



SCYTHE-LEAVED WILLOW. 



Salix nigra falcdta. 



TIME OF BLOOM 

 April y May. 



Bark ; dark grey; rough. Leaves : simple ; alternate ; with short petioles, 

 and two circular leaf-like and serrate stipules at their bases ; linear or scythe- 

 shaped; pointed at both ends or having the base slightly rounded ; finely 

 serrate ; green on both sides ; glabrous above and with soft, silky hairs un- 

 derneath when young. 



In its best state of development the scythe-leaved willow is a 

 small tree, and quite as often it occurs as a shrub. Its leaves 

 are characteristic. 



WESTERN BLACK WILLOW. PEACH-LEAVED 



WILLOW. ALMOND WILLOW. {Plate XVIII.) 



Salix amygdaloldes. 



Bark: brownish red; scaly. Stipules: reniform, encircling the stem; re- 

 motely serrate and falling early. Leaves : simple; alternate; with long slender 

 petioles; broadly lanceolate, with pointed apex and pointed or narrowed base; 

 sharply and evenly serrate ; dark green above and smooth at maturity, paler 

 and slightly glaucous below. Flowers: growing in long, cylindrical and 

 pubescent catkins and terminal at the end of leafy branches. Staminate ones 

 with from five to nine stamens and filaments that are hairy at the base. 

 Pistillate ones with yellow scales. 



Most commonly this rather small tree is seen growing along 

 the banks of streams from Ohio to Missouri. It has also a 

 more northern range from Quebec to British Columbia and 

 thrives well about the Great Lakes. It is a native of America. 



