TREES IN NATURE 91 



** except as pollards, to characterise a marshy 

 country ; or to mark in a second distance the 

 winding banks of a heavy, low-sunk river, 

 which could not otherwise be noticed ". Those 

 who have painted in such a river- valley will 

 appreciate this secondary use of the willow. 

 Still, Gilpin was not wholly blind to its beauty, 

 for he says: *'Some willows, indeed, I have 

 thought beautiful, and fit to appear in the 

 decoration of any rural scene. The kind I 

 have most admired has a small narrow leaf, 

 and wears a pleasant, light, sea-green foliage, 

 which mixes agreeably with foliage of a deeper 

 hue. I am not acquainted with the botanical 

 name of this species, but I believe the botanists 

 call it Salix alba'' This air of indifference to 

 botanical accuracy, while the right botanical 

 name is given, none the less, is delightful in 

 its way. Probably the botanist would say that 

 it is quite characteristic of the mere lover of 

 the picturesque ! 



Of the many other varieties of the willow 

 there can be no mention here ; though an ex- 

 ception ought to be made, perhaps, in favour 

 of the osier, grown at times as a pollard, and 

 more commonly seen in the osier beds, which 



