WILLOW FAMILY 
leaves are four to seven inches long, one to one and one-half 
inches wide, narrow—oblong with wedge-shaped base, long, 
tapering, pointed apex, and serrate margin with thickened 
teeth. The midrib is very prominent on the under side and 
shows greenish white above. In color the leaves are a dark 
shining green above, and smooth, whitish, and glaucous be- 
neath. ‘The twigs are very brittle at the base, and after a 
high wind the ground under the tree is often strewn with 
thein. At these times Crack Willow seems an appropriate 
name. ‘The tree, however, is particularly beautiful in a light 
wind for the leaves are so poised that they readily turn and 
show the white of their under surfaces. The species may be 
identified by the leaf which in addition to the characteristics 
already given has two tiny excrescences at the base just at 
the junction of the leaf with the petiole. The tree is worthy 
of more attention than it has yet received. 
Prehistoric man knew the uses of the willow. The strong, 
yielding, flexible withes made natural ropes and their use as 
such has come down to recent times. The modern world has 
to-day no material better for baskets than the willow, and 
the Romans used it precisely as we do, 
From Britain’s painted sons I came, 
And Basket is my barbarous name; 
But now Iam so modish grown 
That Rome would claim me for her own. 
—MARTIAL, 
Herodotus is the first of ancient writers to mention the 
willow and he ‘speaks of the divining rods of the ancient 
S5cythians. 
Exactly why this tree should be considered the emblem 
of despairing love is not clear but that it has been so consid- 
ered from early times is evident. Shakespeare represents 
Dido lamenting the loss of AEneas : 
In such a night 
Stood Dido, with a willow in her hand, 
Upon the wild sea banks, and waved her love 
To come again to Carthage. 
408 
