THE WILLOWS 83 



The hosts of Caesar invading England in the First 

 Century found the Britons defending themselves behind 

 willow- woven shields, and living in huts of wattled willows, 

 smeared with mud. From that time to the present the 

 uses of these long shoots have multiplied. 



The roots of willows are fibrous and tough as the shoots. 

 For this reason they serve a useful purpose in binding the 

 banks of streams, especially where these are liable to flood. 

 Nature seems to have designed these trees for just this 

 purpose, for a twig lying upon the ground strikes root at 

 every joint if the soil it falls on is sufficiently moist. The 

 wind breaks off twigs and the water carries them down 

 stream where the}' lodge on banks and sand bars, and these 

 are soon covered with billows of green. 



Willows start growth early in spring, putting out their 

 catkins, the two sexes on different trees, before the opening 

 of the leaves. Before the foliage is full gro^vn, the light 

 seeds, each a minute speck, floats away in a wisp of silky 

 down. Its vitality lasts but a day, so it must fall on wet 

 ground at once in order to grow. But the willow family is 

 quite independent of its seeds in the matter of propaga- 

 tion. Chop the roots and twigs into bits and each will 

 grow. Chop a young willow tree into sticks and fence 

 posts and each one, if it is stuck green into the ground, 

 covers itself with a head of leafy twigs before the season is 

 over. 



Weeping Willow 



Salix Bahylonica 



The weeping willow, nmch planted in cemeteries and 

 parks, came originally from Asia and is remarkable for its 



