SALIOAOEAE 



49 



Almost any species suitably treated will yield good material for baskets, 

 but Salix viminalis and Salix purpurea are most commonly cultivated for 

 this purpose. The cultivation of the willow should be encouraged in 

 China in order to stimulate the basket and furniture weaving industry. 

 But perhaps the most important use to which willows may be put is for 

 soil cover — to hold river banks, to stop shifting sand and to prevent 

 erosion on steep slopes. In Europe, Salix daphnoides, which extends 

 from the Himalayas, through Northern Russia to Manchuria, is used to 

 hold shifting sand and railway embankments, the strong and wide- 

 spreading root system renders this species particularly suitable for the 

 purpose. It may have a like vaUie in China. The willows increase 

 readily by seeds, but the quickest method of propagation is by cuttings. 

 Shoots stuck in the ground in early spring soon root and begin fo grow. 



Salix babylonica Linnaeus. 

 Weeping Willow. 



Tree 10-15 m. tall with short trunk, wide-spreading branches and 

 long, pendulous, glabrous, olive green or purplish branchlets. Leaves . 

 8-15 cm. long, linear lanceolate, tapering to a narrow point, cuneate at . 

 the base, bright shining green above, covered with a glaucous bloom 

 beneath. Pistillate catkins about 3 cm. long, green, appearing with the 

 leaves. Scale about 2/3 the length of the ovary. 



This tree is found wild in the western provinces of China. It was 

 early introduced into Europe, now it is everywhere planted as a waterside 

 tree in parks and cemeteries. The Weeping Willow strikes easily from 

 cuttings and thrives best on loamy soil near water. It is one of the first 

 trees to come into leaf in the spring. 



Salix matsudana Koidzumi 



Tree 3-13 m. tall. Twigs greenish -yellow. Leaves lanceolate, 

 tapering at the apex with rounded, rarely acute base, bright green above, 

 glaucous below, about 5-6 cm. long and 1.2-1.5 cm. broad ; petiole 2-8 

 mm. long; stipules lanceolate, short, early deciduous on short shoots. 

 Catkins appear before the leaves, short, cylindric, 1-1.5 cm- long. 

 Pistillate catkins very short, 12 mm. long. 



Eastern Asia. 



This is the common Peking Willow, very widely planted in North 

 China. 



