SALICACEAE 



Weeping 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^~y 2 inch 

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

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

 petioles V 2 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 %G 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, l /&- 1 /^ 

 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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