66 WAYSIDE AND WOODLAND TREES. 
is found as far north as Sutherlandshire, but although it is 
believed to be an indigenous species, most of the modern speci- 
mens appear to have been planted. It affords good timber, and 
the bark is almost equal to that of Oak for tanning. A great 
number of the old Willows met with in our rambles are partially 
decayed, a condition frequently the result of lopping large 
branches, for the wound never heals, and decay setting in at that 
point, extends down the bole. Upon such decaying specimens 
one may often find one of the most handsome of our native 
beetles — the Musk-beetle, with long, slender body and long 
antennae, all coloured in dark golden green, and diffusing the 
aroma of a rose. 
The Almond-leaved or French Willow {Salix triandrd) is a 
small tree about twenty feet high, distinguished by its bark 
being thrown off in flakes. Its slender lance-shaped leaves are 
smooth green above and glaucous beneath, two to four inches 
long, and with half-heart-shaped stipules. The male flowers 
offer another distinguishing mark in their stamens being three in 
number. Its habitats are the banks of rivers and streams, and 
in Osier-beds. It is extensively grown on account of the long, 
straight shoots produced from the stump when the tree is cut 
down, which are of great use in wicker-work. 
The Bay-leaved Willow {Salix pentandra) is met with either 
as a small upright tree about twenty feet high, or as a shrub 
eight feet high. Its oval or elliptical leaves are rich green, 
smooth and sticky on the upper surface, and give out a pleasant 
fragrance like those of the Bay-tree ; they vary from an inch to 
four inches long, and they may or may not bear stipules, but 
if these are present they will be egg-shaped or oblong. The 
stamens are normally five in each flower, but they vary up to 
twelve. This is reputed to be of all our Willows the latest to 
flower. A line drawn through York, Worcester, and North 
Wales will give roughly its southward range as a native species. 
South of that line it has been planted ; north of it to the Scottish 
