82 TREES 



however, mostly shrubs rather than trees. America has 

 seventy species of willows, and new forms are constantly 

 being discovered, which are the results of the crossing of 

 closely related species. These "natural hybrids" have 

 greatly confused the botany of the willow family. 



Not more than half a dozen American willows ever at- 

 tain the height of good-sized trees, and many of these are 

 more commonly found in the tangled shrubbery of river 

 banks, or covering long semi-arid strips of ground far to 

 the north, or on mountain sides where their growth is 

 stunted. Little trees, six inches high, bearing the char- 

 acteristic catkins and narrow leaves of the willow, are 

 found on the arctic tundras. 



The wood of willows is pale in color, soft in texture, and 

 of very little use as lumber or fuel, except in localities where 

 trees are scarce. The Indian depended upon the inner 

 bark of the withy willow for material for his fish nets and 

 lines, and farmers in the pioneer days took the tough, supple 

 stems, when spring made the sap run freely, for the binding 

 together of the rails of their fences. Emotted tight and 

 seasoned, these twigs hardened and lasted for years. 



In Europe the white willow has long been used for the 

 making of wooden shoes, artificial limbs, and carriage 

 bodies. Its wood makes the finest charcoal for gunpowder. 

 Willow wares, such as baskets and wicker furniture, are as 

 old as civilization, and that in its primitive stages. It is 

 a common sight in Europe to see groves of trees from 

 which the long twigs have been taken yearly for these uses. 

 The stumps are called "pollards" and the trees "pollarded 

 willows" whose discouraging task has been to grow a 

 yearly crop of withes for the basket-makers; yet each 

 spring finds them bristling with the new growth. 



