Pussy Willow Glaucous Willow


=Habitat and Range.=--Low, wet grounds; banks of streams, swamps, moist

hillsides.



Nova Scotia to Manitoba.



Maine,--abundant; common throughout the other New England states.



South to North Carolina; west to Illinois and Missouri.



=Habit.=--Mostly a tall shrub with several stems, but occasionally

assuming a tree-like habit, with a height of 15-20 feet and
trunk

diameter of 5-10 inches; one tree reported at Laconia, N. H., 35 feet

high (F. W. Batchelder); branches few, stout, ascending, forming a very

open, hemispherical head.



=Bark.=--Trunk reddish-brown; branches dark-colored; branchlets light

green, orange-dotted.



=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Buds ovate-conical; apex obtuse to acute.

Leaves simple, alternate, 2-4 inches long, smooth and bright green

above, smooth and whitish beneath when fully grown; outline

ovate-lanceolate to narrowly oblong-oval, crenulate-serrate to entire;

apex acute, base acute and entire; leafstalk short; stipules toothed or

entire.



=Inflorescence.=--March to April. Appearing before the leaves in

catkins, sterile and fertile on separate plants, occasionally both kinds

on the same plant, sessile,--sterile spreading or erect,

oblong-cylindrical, silky; calyx none; petals none; bracts entire,

reddish-brown turning to black, oblong to oblong-obovate, with long,

silky hairs; stamens 2; filaments distinct: fertile catkins spreading;

bracts oblong to ovate, hairy; style short; stigma deeply 4-lobed.



=Fruit.=--Fruiting catkins somewhat declined: capsules ovate-conical,

tomentose, stem two-thirds the length of the scale: seeds numerous.



=Horticultural Value.=--Picturesque in blossom and fruit; its value

dependent chiefly upon its matted roots for holding wet banks, and its

ability to withstand considerable shade. Sold by plant collectors;

easily propagated from cuttings.






1. Leaf-buds.

2. Branch with sterile catkins.

3. Sterile flower.

4. Branch with fertile catkins.

5. Fertile flower.

6. Fruiting branch.

7. Mature leaves.





=Salix nigra, Marsh.=



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