* J.J PLANTATIONS OF OSIERS* 56* 



shorter leaf-stalks. It is one of the hardest wooded 

 willows. Its twigs are much used for basket fillings in 

 England; and it is pretty well known in Scotland by 

 the name of Packthread Willow. . 



The yellow Willow ( vitellma), produces handsome 

 shoots, of a yellow colour and shining, and well adapt- 

 ed for basket-work. The leaves are nearly sessile, or 

 have only a very short foot- stalk ; they are minutely 

 serrated, smooth and shining above, and somewhat of 

 a bluish tint, and silky beneath. In osier grounds, al- 

 most every willow with a yellowish bark is called a 

 yellow willow ; but the true Salix vitellina is not com- 

 mon, at least in Scotland. 



The Purslane Willow, or Cane Willow of the late 

 Br Walker, (S. decipiens of Hoffman ?), produces very 

 beautiful shoots, with a fine lively bark, like some sorts 

 of cane. It forms a good basket osier. It grows some- 

 times to a large size, and then greatly resembles the 

 Crack Willow, S. fragilis. 



The Dark Broad-leaved Willow, or, as it is sometimes 

 called, the Black Willow, (S. nigricans.) This is 

 scarcely to be found in Scots osier grounds ; though 

 it occasionally occurs in those of England. It is cer- 

 tainly not worth cultivating, its wands being apt to 

 break. 



The Violet Willow (S. violacea of Don's Cambridge 

 Catalogue,) deserves the same character. It is much 

 fitter for an ornament in the shrubbery, than to be 

 planted as an osier. Its one-year shoots are very flexi-< 

 ble till about December or January ; but after that 

 period they readily snap. 



The tree Willows mentioned in a former part of this 



work (p. 103) may be so kept down and managed as to 



N n cause 



