Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XVI.djvu/670

 646 WILLOW which are grafted. The bark, smooth and often shining, is tough, and is used for matting, cor- dage, fishing nets, and similar uses in northern countries; and in times of scarcity in Norway and Sweden it is kiln-dried and ground to mix with oatmeal. The bark in all is bitter, from the principle salicine, which is more abundant in some species than in others ; this is a white crystallizable neutral substance, with the tonic properties of the bark ; it has been used as a substitute for quinine, and also to adulterate that product. The bark is also astringent, and contains so large an amount of tannin that in northern Europe it is deemed nearly as valuable as oak bark in preparing leather. The wood of the willows is light but firm, and where it is abundant is employed for many of the purposes for which pine is used ; it serves for house timber, and small sailing vessels are built of it ; it is very durable when kept con- stantly under water and when qnite dry, but soon decays if exposed to the weather ; com- mon casks, farm implements, lasts, ladders, and turned wares are among the articles made from it. It makes a quick clear fire, and burns readily when green ; its charcoal is much es- teemed for gunpowder, and also serves to make sketching crayons. In some countries cattle are fed upon the leaves, which are collected and stored for winter forage. The character of the twigs or slender branches of several spe- cies especially adapts them to basket making. (See OSIER.) The most important species is the white willow (galix alba), common through- out Europe and western Asia, and extensively naturalized in this country. It forms a hand- some tree 60 to 80 ft. high ; the young shoots are green; the narrowly lanceolate, pointed, serrate leaves, when young, are silky on both sides, smooth above when old, but always dull green; the flowers are borne at the ends of lateral leafy shoots, appearing in May and June, the stamens always two to each scale. This is a most valuable tree for prairie coun- tries, either for itself, or as rapidly furnish- ing protection for other trees, and immense numbers are planted annually. When the trees are set thickly, they rapidly produce long straight poles for fences and furnish a supply of fuel. It is sometimes planted very closely to form a live fence or tall hedge, but there is much doubt as to its permanence when thus treated. In Maryland and Delaware it is planted to furnish charcoal to the powder mills. The golden willow or yellow osier, for- merly regarded as a distinct species, is a varie- ty of the white (var. titellina), with its young shoots bright yellow, rather shorter and broader leaves, and a more spreading habit; this, in the older states, is very generally intro- duced and much more common than the type ; in Europe it is often cultivated as an osier. Another variety of the white is the blue wil- low (var. comlta), which has its leaves less downy beneath and of a more bluish green ; this is considered a much more rapid grower than the white, and in England it is asserted that it will produce a greater amount of timber than can be obtained in the same period from any other tree. The brittle or crack willow (S. fragilis), so called because the young shoots Weeping Willow (Salix Babylonlca). readily break away from the branches, is much less common in this country than the prece- ding, though considerably planted in the older states ; it grows larger and more rapidly than the white, from which it differs principally in having greener and smooth leaves, the teeth upon which are indexed, and in its larger and looser catkins. In England this is regarded as the most valuable willow for timber, its wood being harder than that of any other, the heart wood of a deep reddish color. The varnished Glossy Willow (Salix lucida). willow (var. decipien the Bedford willow (var. Ruuelliana), and the green willow (var. viridis), formerly classed as species under the names here given for the varieties, are forms of this, and are sometimes cultivated as osiers.