254 



THE WILLOW. 



falling away from them, and perishing by degrees, 

 what before were but the roots, are now become 

 the bodies of the Ashes themselves." Loudon 

 records a yet more remarkable incident connected 

 with this tree. An old Willow at Carlsruhe 

 having been nearly thrown down by a storm, was 

 supported by an oaken prop. Into this it sent 

 down a root, which fixed itself in the earth, and 

 as it increased in size, split off the bark from the 

 prop, and eventually became so stout as to render 

 the artificial support no longer necessary. 



A beautiful species of Willow, which is not so 

 generally cultivated as it deserves to be, is the 

 Five-stamened Willow, Salix pentandra. This is 

 easily distinguished by its large glossy leaves, 

 more like those of the Portugal Laurel than of 

 the other Willows. During the whole of summer 

 it has quite the appearance of an evergreen, and 

 towards the end of June is very conspicuous with 

 its seed-vessels, which, being then ripe, burst, 

 and disclose a great abundance of glossy silk 

 attached to the seeds. It has this further recom- 

 mendation, that the foliage emits a fragrant aro- 

 matic perfume. It grows in w^atery places in the 

 north of England and Ireland. In the latter 

 country I have seen bushy hedges of it stretching 

 across the extensive bogs, which abound in the 

 neighbourhood of the Giant's Causeway, scenting 

 the air, and giving a cheerful appearance to the 

 otherwise gloomy landscape. It forms a more 

 compact tree than the other kinds, but the shoots 

 are too brittle to be of much value. 



The little Willow, which in some districts is so 

 abundant on commons, trailing its wiry branches 

 along the ground, or occasionally availing itself of 



