THE GOAT WILLOW— continued. 
plasticity of constitution which is only less than their plasticity of form, has given 
them a wide geographical distribution. They belong mostly, however, to the Northern 
Hemisphere, and S. caprea belongs exclusively to Europe and Asia. 
Mr. Linton subdivides the genus primarily by the bracts, which either remain 
of uniform colour, as in the Bay-leaved, Almond-leaved, Crack and White Willows, 
or become brown, blackish-brown, or red at their tips, as in the Sallows, most Dwarf 
Willows, and the Goat Willows. The species of the latter subdivision have only 
two stamens in each flower, which may be either united, as in the Purple Osiers, 
or distinct. 
The Section Caprea consists of small trees or shrubs with short branches which 
turn to a dull grey-brown. Their leaves are equitant, or folded down the midribj 
with both edges of one outside both edges of the next, and are pubescent ; and their 
catkins are generally sessile, with a few small leaves at their base. In this Section, 
the Goat Willow is distinguishable from its near ally the Sallow ( Salix cinerea L.) by 
its twigs, which are downy at first, becoming smooth, while its broad leaves remain 
softly pubescent beneath, whilst those of the Sallow usually become harsh. 
Being among the earliest of the Willows to flower, the male and female catkins 
of these two species are the “ Gold” and “ Silver ” Palms respectively of a March 
or an early April Easter. At this season the people of Guernsey will exclaim : “ V’la le 
saue qui cattone ” ; whilst in many parts of England they are called Pussy-cats , or the 
staminate ones, Goslings. The amount of pollen produced is very great, as in wind- 
pollinated flowers ; but the perfumed honey secreted by the small stalked gland at 
the base of the flower attracts many bees to collect the pollen, and the dioecism of the 
tree, of course, secures cross-pollination. 
The name caprea refers to the reputed fondness of goats for the catkins. In 
the “ Kreuter Buch ” of Hieronymus Bock or Tragus (1546), whose name, by the 
way, means goat, the tree is represented with a goat stretching up to eat its catkins. 
Unlike the Sallow ( S . cinerea L.) and most other Willows, the Goat Willow 
flourishes in comparatively dry hedgerows and woodlands, a fact which we may 
correlate with the protection of its stomata from any excessive transpiration by the 
thick down on the leaves. It is not particular as to soil and occurs at all altitudes 
up to 2,500 feet above sea-level. 
The grey foliage renders the tree conspicuous when not in blossom ; but, the 
leaves not being long and narrow as in the Willows familiar by the river-bank, many 
fail to recognise this species as a member of the genus. The tree is not utilised, as 
are many of its congeners, for wicker-work, cricket-bats, or other economic purpose. 
