The Willows 



Buds ovate, lustrous, brown. Leaves broadly lanceolate or ovate, 

 serrate, taper pointed, 3 to 5 inches long, i inch wide, glabrous, 

 paler, and glaucous beneath; petioles slender, compressed; stipules 

 kidney shaped, broad, serrate, soon dropping. Flowers with the 

 leaves ; catkins loosely flowered, i to 2 inches long. Fruits narrowly 

 ovoid capsules, taper pointed, smooth on stem of equal length. 

 Preferred habitat, borders of streams and lakes. Distribution, 

 Quebec to British Columbia, south through New York, Missouri 

 and New Mexico. 



The resemblance of the foliage of this tree to that of peach 

 trees is striking. The leaves curl slightly, and hang pendant on 

 their slender, flexible stems. It is one of our few willow trees that 

 rise above medium height. Rare in the East, it is common in 

 the valley of the Ohio, and along streams that flow down the 

 eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains. It is often met in cultiva- 

 tion in the Middle West. 



The Black Willow (S. kevigata, Bebb.) is recognisable by 

 its pale blue-green, leathery leaves, which are pale and glaucous 

 beneath and finely serrate or almost entire on the margins. It is 

 a native of California, following streams on the western slopes of 

 the Sierras. It is rarely more than 40 feet high, averaging a little 

 over half that height. 



The Shining "Willow (S. lucida, Muehl.) is an inhabitant 

 of the North. From Newfoundland it ranges westward to 

 Hudson Bay and the Rockies, and southward only as far as 

 Pennsylvania and Nebraska. A small, round-headed tree, its 

 distinction is the lustre of its ruddy twigs and the beautiful sheen 

 of its dark green, leathery leaves. It is coming to be recognised 

 by landscape gardeners and nurserymen as a species of consider- 

 able horticultural value. 



The Western Black Willow (S. lasiandra, Benth.) grows 

 to be a tree 60 feet high on river banks and lake shores from 

 British Columbia to California and east into Montana, Colorado 

 and New Mexico. The type becomes modified in the remote 

 limits of its range. The leaves are 4 or 5 inches long, lanceolate 

 and finely cut-toothed; they are a dark, lustrous green above, 

 paler or glaucous below. 



Missouri Willow {Salix Missouriensis, Bebb.) — Tree, to 

 50 feet high, with trunk to i^ feet thick. Twigs pubescent. 

 Bark grey, thin, with small scales. Wood dark brown. Leaves 



>59 



