CHAP. CUT. 



.s*alicaV:e/e. savlix\ 



1307 



1 5 1 S 



' and dips 



Its pendent boughs, stooping as if to drink.' 



Cowper. 



In these situations it appears in character, and, of course, to advantage." 

 Sir Thomas Dick Lauder remarks on this tree, that it is a native of the 

 East, and that interesting: associations are awakened in conjunction with it 

 by that very beautiful Psalm, " By the waters of Babylon we sat down 

 and wept, when we remembered thee, O Sion ! As for our harps, we 

 hanged them up upon the willow trees that are therein." (Psalm 137.) " The 

 tender and melancholy recollections of the captive children of Israel, when 

 taken in conjunction with this tree," he adds, " are of themselves sufficient 

 to give it an interest in every human bosom that may have been touched by 

 the strains of the Psalmist." {Lauder's Gilpin, vol. i. p. 135.) 



The weeping willow roots freely by cuttings, and grows with great ra- 

 pidity in a rich soil, within reach of water, in the climate of London ; but, 

 in the north, the young shoots are very apt to be killed by frost. These 

 shoots are brittle, and neither they nor the wood are ever applied to any 

 useful purpose. The weeping willow is particularly subject to the attacks 

 of the Curculio lapathi Lin., Cryptorhynchus Fab., and other insects, as 

 already pointed out in our general view of the genus *Salix. (p. 1478.) 



A curious instance is given in the Gardener's Magazine, vol. ix. p. 267., 

 of a weeping willow in the Botanic Garden at Carlsruhe. This willow, 

 which was planted in 1787, was nearly thrown down by a storm in 1816; 

 and, in consequence of the injury it received, one branch was cut off, 

 and an oaken prop was put under the other, as represented in fig. 1308. 

 a. The willow sent down a root under the decayed bark of the oaken 

 prop. This root in 1829, when we saw it, being increased to about the 

 thickness of a man's arm, had burst from the bark ; which being removed 

 the root stood alone, as shown at b ; and we are informed that it has since 

 so increased in size and strength as to render the oaken prop unnecessary. 



Varieties. There is one very decided variety, commonly treated as a species, 

 under the name of S. annularis; and Mr. Castles of the Twickenham Bo- 

 tanic Garden is of opinion that, exclusive of this variety, there are two 

 forms of the species in the country, one of which he thinks may pos- 

 sibly be the male plant. This form, as it appears to be the same as the 

 plant sent from St. Helena, we shall, till something further has been de- 

 cided respecting it, call it S. b. Napoleons. The varieties will, therefore, 

 stand as under : — 



