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DESCRIPTIVE BOTANY. 



Use. — The weeping willow is used as an ornamental tree ; it is a very rapid 

 grower, and forms a beautiful and picturesque object in planted grounds. The 



wood is soft and light, and does 

 not make valuable lumber nor 

 good fuel. Its charcoal is used 

 by chemists in some blow-pipe 

 experiments. 



2. S. viminalis, L. (Osier Wil- 

 low.) Stem 20 to 30 feet high, 

 slender, shooting up 10 to 12 

 feet in a single growing season. 

 Leaves linear-lanceolate, acumi- 

 nate, sparingly toothed, long, 

 silky beneath ; stipules small, 

 aments appearing before the 

 leaves ; scales roundish and very 

 hairy; silky down on the under 

 side of leaf, white. The shoots 

 are best for wicker-work and 

 baskets when two years old. 



Geography. — Native all over 

 Europe and northwestern Asia; 

 grows easily from slips, and is 

 grown largely in middle Europe. 



Etymology. — Viminalis, the 

 specific name, is from the Latin 

 viminalia, an osier. 



Use. — The osier willow is used 

 for wicker-work, baskets, chairs, 

 settees, hoops, etc. There are 

 several other species used for the same purposes. 



The charcoal of willow is used in the manufacture of gunpowder. 



Salix viminalis (Osier Willow), 



Order LIV. ORCHIDACE-aS. 



Flowers perfect, or imperfect by arrest, terminal, solitary, or in a 

 spike, raceme, or panicle, bracteate, occasionally springing from the 

 middle of a leaf. Perianth superior, petaloid irregular, made up of 

 6 parts in two series, free or coherent, persistent or falling ; the outer 

 whorl or sepals 3 in number, 2 lateral and 1 inferior, mostly superior 

 by torsion peduncle. Petals 3, alternating with the sepals, the 2 lat- 

 eral ones similar, the other lip-shaped, mostly inferior by torsion, 

 varying greatly in form and color, limb of the lip 3-lobed or entire. 

 Stamens usually 1, opposite to the odd sepal, accompanied by 2 rudi- 

 mentary stamens, adnate to the style in gynandrous columns, 

 pollen-grains often united into masses. Ovary inferior, 1-celled, or 

 occasionally 3-celled, with 3 parietal placentae. Capsule membranous 

 or leathery, cylindric, ovoid, winged, or a dehiscent pod. Seeds small 

 and very numerous, testa crustaceous and black. Perennial herb, 



