Willotrs dnd their Ouliivatioti. 
289 
basket-makels a certain variety of willow is known as “ Spanish.” 
In bestowing an individuality upon the species it became known 
as “the Spaniard.” Confusing measure with locality, it became 
the span-yard — its “ span/’ or measure, a yard. These pecu- 
liarly introduced errors offer a wide field for the follower of 
folk-lore and antiquarian research. 
There is in most districts a fairly well-recognized distinc- 
tion of the sections, or groupings, of the varieties under the 
headings Osiers, Willows, and Sallows, but the application of 
these terms is not identical as to the ground covered by each 
in the different districts to which the terms apply, so that what 
may be a Willow in one place may become an Osier in another ; 
and altogether there seems to be as much difference of opinion 
in the popular mind in the application of popular titles as there 
is in the scientific world in the effort to systematize botanical 
nomenclature. Then, again, sometimes salices take distinctive 
common names from some characteristic or quality they possess, 
whilst others appear to have taken their local name from some 
individual who had grown the variety or had in some such way 
become identified with some particular kind either in cultivation 
or in commerce. 
At the Willow Beds and the Salicetum in our Chester nur- 
series (Dickson’s) the two willows most in demand and evidently 
the best suited for basket-making, including heavy hampers and 
all such work, are the Green Willow and the Bitter Osier. These 
are the popular names under which these two species are grown 
in great numbers to meet the demand for sets or cuttings. The 
Green Willow here referred to is a variety evidently of Salix 
viminalis. It only seems to differ from the type plants of S. 
vimincilis in that this particular variety (Dickson’s Green 
Willow) does not seem so liable to throw out the occasional 
lateral branchlets found in S. viminalis. The Bitter Osier is 
evidently Salix Kerksii. In the Salicetum there are other 
varieties which seem to be nearly, if not equally, as good as 
these two kinds, specially grown in quantity to meet the 
demand for cuttings for basket rods. Amongst the more notice- 
able in this respect are Helix pyramidalis, triandra , phylicifolia, 
lanceolata, rubra , rubra Forbyana, Lambertiana, Smithiana , &c. 
In a recently issued work on “ British Forest Trees,” 1 the 
following ai’e given as the best willows for basketwork : — 
Salix viminalis 
Salix triandra (including Salix amygdalina) 
Salix purpurea (including Salix rubra) 
* British Forest Trees and their Sylvicultural Characteristics and Treatment. 
By John Nisbet. Macmillan & Co. 1893 Ed. 
