THE WILLOWS 



389 



Poplars. The Willows do not entirely, 

 nor indeed chiefly, depend iij^on the 

 wind's agency for the conveyance of their 

 pollen to the fruit- 

 producing flowers. 

 Both kinds of flowers 

 provide nectar. 

 Though these flowers 

 exhibit no showy 

 petals, their hidden 

 sweets afford effective 

 attraction to multi- 

 tudes of insect visitors. 

 The pollen dust also 

 has undergone modi- 

 fication. Seen under 

 the microscope it is 

 not smooth as is 

 wind-blown pollen, 

 but roughened, and 

 thereby better fitted 

 to attach itself to 

 the body or limbs 

 of a welcomed visitor, 

 by whom it is con- 

 veyed in due course 

 to the next fruit -pro- 

 ducing flower that is 

 visited. 



The fruit is pro- 

 duced in catkins 

 which ripen in earty 

 summer, and appear 

 as finger - lengths of 

 cottony fluff. This 

 fluff breaks away in 

 the wind, and bears 

 the seeds over the 

 meadows, or floats 

 with them down the 

 stream, till place and 

 conditions suitable for 

 growth are found. 



THE WHITE WILLOW AND THE CRACK 

 WILLOW 



These are the most frequent Willow trees 

 met with, either in their full-branched 

 or in their pollarded form. There are 

 also many varieties and hybrids of these. 

 They have the typical lance - shaped 

 leaves. Those of the White Willow 

 are distinguished by the presence of silky 

 hairs on the upper as well as on the lower 

 surface — densely so when young — whilst 

 those of the Crack Willow are nearly, 

 or quite, hairless. In Ixjth the margins 



50 



are toothed. A useful distinguishing fact 

 is the presence on the leaf stalk of the 

 Crack Willow, close up to the leaf, of 



\C^HITE WILLOW IN WINTER. 



two small protuberances (glands) ; these 

 are absent from that of the White Willow. 

 The small stipules, or rudimentary loaves, 

 found at an early stage at the base of 

 the leaf stalks, are narrow and pointed 

 on the White Willow ; broader, kidney 

 or half-heart shaped, on the Crack Willow. 

 These, however, soon fall after the leaves 

 have expanded. The chief distinction 

 is afforded by the action of the twigs. 

 Those of the Crack Willow, otherwise 

 supple as tliose of the White Willow, 

 break off at the base, where, especially 



