WILLOW FAMILY 



With the fertile capsules opening and coalescing into huge soft balls of 

 whitest wool almost hiding the beautiful red and maroon leaves of the grow- 

 ing tips, it {Sa/ix balsaniifcra) is certainly the handsomest willow I ever 

 saw. 



— ToRREY Botanic Club. 



The Balsam Willow assumes its finest form in open 

 swampy grounds, where it is exposed to the sun on all 

 sides ; under these conditions it forms larsfe broad 

 clumps. When in flower, it is one of the most beauti- 

 ful of willows. 



BROAD-LEAVED WILLOW 



Salix glaucophylla. 



Two to six feet high, found on the sandy shores of the Great 

 Lakes. Ranges from Illinois and Michigan to Wisconsin ; occa- 

 sionally found somewhat back from the shore. 



Stems. — Light gray ; shoots and twigs smooth and yellowish. 



Leaves. — Alternate, simple, three to four inches long, nearly 

 two inches wide, ovate, obovate or oblong-lanceolate, rounded or 

 acute at base, serrulate with gland-tipped teeth, short acuminate 

 at apex ; when full grown dark green and shining above, glaucous 

 beneath. Petioles stout, a quarter to half an inch long. Stip- 

 ules large, persistent, auriculate, dentate. 



Flowers. — April. Catkins expanding before the leaves; very 

 silky, leafy-bracted at base. Staminate about two inches long; 

 pistillate often three inches long in fruit. Bracts densely white, 

 downy, persistent. Fruiting capsules long-beaked from an ovoid 

 base, acute, about a quarter of an inch long. 



Salix glmicopJiylla lives by choice on the sand ridges 

 and dunes of the Great Lakes, and is especially abun- 

 dant on the shore of Lake Michigan. Every plant that 

 lives among shifting sands develops its own means of 

 self-protection; and this is usually either a peculiarl}^ 

 fibrous root or an extremely vital stem. This willow 

 depends largely upon its stem, which takes root 



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