44 



Common Trees 



PUSSY WILLOW 



Satix discolor, Muht 



THE PUSSY WILLOW, probably more than any other tree, 

 tells the people of both city and country when spring is 

 here. During a brief period of spring it gives the chief touch 

 of beauty to the landscape through its fine display of yellow 

 blossoms that are visited by thousands of bees. 



The leaves are 

 s i m pie, alternate, 

 elliptic, 3 to 5 

 inches long, bright 

 green above and 

 silvery white be- 

 low. A distinctive 

 feature of the 

 leaves is the wavy 

 margins with 

 coarse teeth. 



The flowers are 

 of two kinds. 

 Both are arranged 

 in short, stubby 

 spikes. The pol- 

 len - bearing and 

 the seed-producing 

 always occur on 

 different trees. 

 They appear be- 

 fore the leaves and 

 tell us when spring • 



is coming. The seeds are produced in large numbers in hairy 

 long-beaked light-brown capsules. 



The bark is thin, smooth, greenish, rarely scaly. The stout 

 branchlets are marked with orange-colored breathing pores. 

 The buds are alternate, *4 of an inch long, duck-bill like, 

 flattened on inside, dark reddish-purple. The wood is sim- 

 ilar to that of Black Willow. 



The Pussy Willow is found in moist meadows, and along 

 banks of streams and in other wet places from Nova Scotia 

 south to Delaware and west to Manitoba and Missouri. In 

 New York this tree is generally distributed in the State below 

 3,000 feet, but it is rare on Long Island and Staten Island. 

 It rarely exceeds 25 feet in height and is of considerable value 

 in landscape work, especially along water courses. 



PUSSY WILLOW 

 One-fourth natural size. 



