WILLOW. 



WILLOW. 



and shrubs. They all delight to grow in 

 swampy places, and are increased by cuttings, 

 though some of the more rare alpine kinds 

 root with difficulty. There is no tribe of trees 

 of such various magnitude as the willows, from 

 the large white willow to the minute Salix her- 

 bacca,six of which may be placed between two 

 leaves of a duodecima, roots, stems, leaves, 

 and flowers. Many of the species of willow, 

 under the names of osier and sallow, are ex- 

 tensively grown for the manufacture of basket- 

 rods ; the best sorts for which are the great 

 round-leaved sallow (S. caprea) and the com- 

 mon osier (S. viminalis). The branches of 

 some of the species are used as stakes, poles, 

 handles to rakes, hoes, and a great variety of 

 economical purposes. Loudon (Jlrb. Brit.) says, 

 "In the north of Europe the bark of S. alba is 

 used for tanning leather, and for dyeing yarn 

 of a common cinnamon colour; and the leaves 

 and young shoots are given to cattle in a green 

 state, or dried like the twigs of the birch, and 

 laid up for winter fodder." The bark, how- 

 ever, is less valuable than that of some of the 

 other species. The leaves of the least willow 

 (S. hcrbacea), soaked in water, are employed in 

 Iceland for tanning leather. (Paxton's Bot. 

 Diet.) The arrangement of the species of 

 willows is a matter of considerable difficulty, 

 as well as their technical discrimination. 

 Among the numerous species of willows there 

 are only a few which are cultivated for farm 

 purposes: of these we shall enumerate and 

 describe the following : 



1. The long-leaved triandrous willow (S. 

 triandra). This tree is very common in wet 

 woods, hedges, and osier grounds. It is of an 

 upright form, rising naturally, when not in- 

 jured, to the height of 30 feet; towards autumn 

 casting the bark of its trunk and larger branches 

 in broad, solid portions, cracking angularly 

 asunder, like the plane tree. The young 

 branches are erect, long, tough, and plianf, 

 smooth, leafy, brownish, somewhat brittle at 

 their joint or insertion. Leaves linear-oblong, 

 serrated, smooth, rather unequally sloping at 

 the base. The narrower-leaved willows gene- 

 rally come under the denomination of osiers, 

 of which this is one of the most valuable. It 

 is cultivated for white basket-work, producing 

 rods 8 or 9 feet long, tough and pliant, even 

 when stripped of their bark, and very durable. 

 They are cut down every year. There are 

 several varieties of this species ; one, called 

 the French willow, is cultivated in Sussex and 

 in the eastern parts of England; it is more 

 slenderin form, and only about 12 or 15 feet high. 



2. Bedford willow (S. Russelliana). When 

 this tree was first recommended for cultivation, 

 by the name of the Leicestershire, or~Dishley 

 willow, it was regarded with scorn as "only 

 the crack willow" (S. fragilis), a sort noto- 

 riously useless. This ignorance and prejudice 

 are now removed, and this willow is found the 

 most profitable for cultivation of any species 

 of the genus, for the value of its timber as 

 well as bark, the rapidity of its growth, and 

 the handsome aspect of the tree. This spe- 

 cies of willow was first brought into notice by 

 the late Duke of Bedford, who engaged an 



1142 



able chemist, Mr. Biggin, to make experiments 

 upon it. It was found to contain in its bark 

 more of the tanning principle than any other 

 tree of England, except the oak. The bark 

 also contains the largest quantity of snlirinn, a 

 salt which has been found useful as a substi- 

 tute for the quinia and cinchona in agues, and 

 which is much less liable to excite irritation 

 in the stomach than the salts of the cinchona. 

 It is of great importance that the distinctions 

 between this willow and the crack willow (S. 

 frugilis) should be clearly pointed out, on ac- 

 count of the wide difference in their qualities 

 and value. This tree is more handsome than 

 the crack willow in its mode of growth, as well 

 as altogether of a lighter or brighter hue. The 

 branches are long, straight, and slender, not 

 angular in their insertion, like S.fragilis; and 

 the trees, when stripped of their leaves, may 

 always be distinguished by these marks. They 

 are polished, very tough, flexible, round, and 

 smooth. Leaves lanceolate, tapering at each 

 end, serrated throughout, and very smooth. 

 Those of S.fragilis are ovate-lanceolate; the 

 foot-stalk, also, is longer than the scale, whilst 

 in S. fragilis it is so short that the leaf is nearly 

 sessile. In both it is glandular or leafy. 



3. Bitter purple willow (S. purpurea). This 

 is a shrub growing in low meadows, about the 

 banks of rivers and ditches, but not common. 

 The trunk is 3 or 4 feet high, with long, slen- 

 der, very smooth branches, spreading widely, 

 and, if not supported, trailing on the ground, 

 of a rich and shining purple, with a somewhat 

 glaucous hue. Leaves partly opposite, obovate- 

 lanceolate, serrated, very smooth, narrow at the 

 base. This is a very valuable osier for fine 

 basket-work, but more especially for platting 

 into low, close fences, to keep out hares and 

 rabbits; the leaves and bark being intensely 

 bitter, those animals will not touch either. The 

 twigs, moreover, are so long, tough, and flexi- 

 ble, that they may be interwoven into any 

 shape, and kept very close to the ground, as 

 they always retain their horizontal mode of 

 growth. Such a fence is scarcely inferior to 

 one made of wire, and is, perhaps, more dura- 

 ble, as continually producing young shoots, to 

 supply the place of those that decay. It is im- 

 portant to distinguish this useful and elegant 

 willow from that to be next described. The 

 bark contains much salicina. 



4. The rose willow (S. helix) grows in 

 marshes, osier holts, and about the banks of 

 rivulets. It is a tree of humble growth, erect, 

 about 10 feet high, smooth in every part, alto- 

 gether of a lighter hue than the last. The 

 branches not trailing, but upright, smooth, and 

 polished, of a pale yellowish or purplish ash 

 colour, tough, and pliable, less slender and 

 elongated than the foregoing species, though 

 useful for the coarser sorts of basket-work. 

 Leaves partly opposite, oblong-lanceolate, 

 pointed, slightly serrated, very smooth, linear 

 towards the base. Their colour a light, rather 



[glaucous green, turning blackish in drying. 

 i The leaves and twigs are less bitter than the 

 j former, and the greater size of the trunk, as 



I well as branches, renders this species fit for 

 several purposes which that is not. It also 



