474 



BAY-LEAVED WILLOW. 



She has given a glossy surface to the leaf, which responds to 

 the sunlight with a bright reflection, as readily as its fellows of the 

 Willow tribe, which are slender and silken grey, do to the motions 

 of the breeze. She has made it oval, instead of shaping it like a 

 lance, and has endowed it with a pleasant scent. 



The Bay-leaved Willow might be mistaken for a cultivated Ever- 

 green, on account of its leaf, did not bark, twigs, buds, and catkins 

 identify it beyond doubt as belonging to the Willow tribe. In some 

 northern countries it is a common bush ; less often it reaches the 

 dimensions of a tree of some twenty to thirty feet in height. 



The flowers appear about two months later than those of the 

 Goat Willow, and bear but little resemblance to the blossoms of the 

 Willow family in general. 



LEAVES AND BRANCHES. 



Late in the Autumn the new buds and shoots formed during 

 the growing season are conspicuous for their yellow or purple-brown 

 colour, and have the appearance of being varnished rather than 

 polished. Those of the previous year are also glossy and of a pale 

 yellowish-brown, while the older wood has a tinge of green. The 

 pliant young branches form a series of angles something like Y's 

 with curved tails, and carry on the arms of the Y a number of 

 buds arranged singly, and at its base other tiny hard buds. Early in 

 May the buds expand, and the stipules of shining bright green which 

 they contain, lengthen, and might be mistaken for leaves, so nearly 

 do they resemble them. The young upright leaves themselves are 

 of a bright glossy pale green, and are rolled round the still un- 

 developed inner leaves, which they completely enfold. 



