WILLOWS AND POPLARS 147 



which delights our hearts in early March. You 

 may be familiar, also, with the slender osier, or 

 basket willow, whose yellow twigs spring up 

 among the rushes along the river brink. In the 

 far north is a cousin of this dainty willow, called 

 the polar willow. It is a stunted pigmy, less 

 than six inches high, with leaves no larger than 

 your finger nail, and the tiniest of catkins, which 

 it manages to shake out in the brief Arctic 

 springtime. For though placed in unfavorable 

 conditions, .it never fails to remember that it is 

 a willow and to follow faithfully the customs of 

 the family. 



Nature seems fond of fashioning small wil- 

 lows. There are over seventy species in our 

 country which never grow to be anything more 

 than ambitious shrubs. All our large willows 

 are imported. One of the best known of these 

 is the crack willow. It was introduced from 

 Europe for its fine basket-making qualities. 

 The crack wiUow is easily recognized by the 

 brittleness of its twigs. On a windy March day 

 the ground beneath the trees is strewn with 

 them. The crack willow may also be known by 

 the dark color of its shining leaves. It is easily 

 pollarded into various picturesque shapes. 

 Another familiar large willow is the white wil- 

 low. It reveals its identity in summer by the 



