SALICACEAE 



Willow. Napoleon's Willow 



Salix babylonica L. 



HABIT. A tree 40-50 feet high, with a short, stout trunk 

 3-4 feet in diameter; the long, slender branchlets, often many 

 feet in length, droop in graceful festoons, giving to the tree a 

 weeping habit. 



LEAVES. Alternate, simple, 3-7 inches long, Y^}/* inch 

 broad; linear to linear-lanceolate, long-pointed; finely sharp- 

 serrate ; thin and firm ; glabrous, dark green above, paler beneath ; 

 petioles J^ inch or less in length, glandular above, often hairy. 



FLOWERS. April- May, with the leaves ; dioecious ; borne 

 in slender, nearly glabrous catkins 1-2 inches long; calyx o; 

 corolla o; scales ovate-lanceolate, slightly hairy; ovary ovoid- 

 conical, very short-stalked, with stigmas longer than the style. 

 Staminate trees apparently do not occur in the United States. 



FRUIT. May-June; i-celled, narrow-ovoid, sessile capsule, 

 about %j inch long, containing many minute seeds which are 

 furnished with long, silky, white hairs. 



WINTER-BUDS. Terminal bud absent; lateral buds nar- 

 row-conical, sharp-pointed, somewhat flattened, brownish, J^-J4 

 inch long. 



BARK. Twigs glabrous, olive-green ; thick and gray on 

 old trunks, rather smooth, or irregularly fissured into shallow, 

 firm ridges. 



WOOD. Light, soft, weak, close-grained, light brown, with 

 thick, whitish sapwood. 



NOTES. A native of Europe and Asia. Often grown in 

 cemeteries. Easily propagated by cuttings. Rapid of growth in 

 rich, damp soil. Sometimes winter-killed because the wood is 

 not ripened. , 



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