1758 The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland 



centage of tannin contained in the bark, which exceeded, according to Mr. Biggin's 

 analysis, 1 even that of the oak. 



The Rev. W. Dickenson assured the Duke of Bedford and Sir James Smith 

 that the tree known as Johnson's Willow, 2 which grew between Lichfield and Stow 

 Hall, was S. Russelliana. This tree, which was so called because Dr. Johnson 

 frequently rested under its -shade, was figured by Loudon, Arb. et Frut. Brit. iii. 

 figs. 131 2, 13 1 3, who states that it was about 60 ft. high, with a great bole, about 20 ft. 

 in length, which girthed, 8 in 18 10, 21 ft. at six feet from the ground. It contained 

 130 cubic ft. of timber, and was perfectly sound. It was blown down in 1829, when 

 it was supposed to have been 130 years old. 



Mr. L. Fosbrooke, of Ravenstone Hall, Ashby de la Zouch, believes that S. 

 Russelliana still occurs in Leicestershire in the Trent valley, where the trees are 

 supposed to be female S. fragilis. They differ in foliage from male trees of true 

 S. fragilis, according to Mr. Fosbrooke, who tells me that though they grow fast 

 when young, they become round-topped as they approach maturity, and are certainly 

 not nearly as vigorous as S. cosrulea. I have not been able to examine specimens 

 of these trees ; and cannot say whether they are identical with the original S. 

 Russelliana, which may have been a solitary sport or hybrid of exceptional vigour, 

 now lost to cultivation. 



Distribution 



The distribution of S. fragilis in the wild state cannot be determined with 

 certainty, as it has been largely planted outside of its original area ; but it is supposed 

 to be indigenous in the greater part of Europe and in western Asia. It is not wild 

 in Norway, but occurs there as a planted tree as far north as lat. 64 5'. In Sweden 

 it is also only known in cultivation, the male tree being seen occasionally in Werm- 

 land and Schone, and the female tree in the district round Kalmar. It is wild in 

 Jutland, in the island of Oesel, and in Russia, 4 where it extends as far north as 

 Esthonia, Livland, Kostroma, and Kazan ; but is absent from the Crimea. It is 

 widely spread in the Caucasus, Persia, and Asia Minor. Farther east it is cultivated 5 

 in the Kuram valley, in Gilgit, Ladak, and Lahaul, as well as at Quetta, where it 

 was found by Lace at 5600 ft. elevation. 



In Europe it extends southwards to Spain and Portugal, Sicily, and Greece. It 

 is planted largely in northern and central Germany, where it is wild in many localities ; 

 but in southern Germany, Austria, and Hungary, it is only seen in river valleys, 

 where it prefers a deep loamy soil ; and ascends along the edges of streams in the 

 mountains, as high as 1700 ft. altitude in the Bavarian Alps, and 2500 ft. in Tran- 

 sylvania. In order to succeed it requires considerably more moisture in the soil than 

 S. alba, and on this account is most often seen on the Continent generally, on the 

 banks of rivers, streams, and lakes, being rare in the interior of the forests. 



1 Davy, Agric. Chem. 89 (18 14) analysed the bark of a large tree of the "Leicester Willow" and found it to contain 

 more tannin than any other British tree, having a little more than coppice oak, and three times as much as the " common 

 willow." 2 See note 4, p. 1757. 



3 Withering, Arr. Brit. Plants, ii. 68 (1818) gives these measurements on the authority of Rev. W. Dickenson. Loudon, 

 Derby Arboretum, 55 (1840), states that a young tree, raised from the branches of Johnson's Willow, was growing at Lich- 

 field in 1836, when it was 20 ft. high. 



4 Koppen, Hohgew. Europ. Russlands, ii. 257 (1889). 6 Brandis, Indian Trees, 637 (1906). 



