willow. 267 



of winter exhibiting its graceful branches, co- 

 vered with hoary frost, forming the most 

 magnificent spectacle imaginable, at one mo- 

 ment reminding us of a tree sculptured from 

 the purest alabaster, and the next repre- 

 senting a superb chandelier of glass. 



The French distinguish this species of 

 willow by the name of the Grand Signior's 

 or Babylonian Parasol. 



The generic name of the willow, Salix, is 

 derived from salire (to leap), because, as the 

 herbalists observe, " It groweth with that 

 speed that it seemeth to leap ;" and the 

 Greeks called it Irsa, for the same reason — 

 7rapa t5 ievoti. 



The latest edition of the Hortus Kewensis 

 enumerates sixty-five distinct species of wil- 

 low; and the British Botanist of 1820 names 

 fifty-six species of this plant, as natives of our 

 soil. 



In the terribly superstitious time of the 

 Druids, idols were formed of the branches of 

 these trees, which were woven into baskets, of 

 sufficient size to hold a great number of per- 

 sons, who were consumed together, for the 

 purpose of impressing the ignorant with awe, 

 that they might with greater facility continue 

 their horrid impositions. 



Herodotus tells us, that the Scythians had 



