Michigan Trees Part 12

3. Leaf, 1.

4. Staminate flowering branchlet, 1.

5. Staminate flower, enlarged.

6. Pistillate flowering branchlet, 1.

7. Pistillate flower, enlarged.

8. Fruiting branchlet, 1.]

+SALICACEAE+

+Black Willow+

_Salix nigra Marsh._

HABIT.--A tree 30-50 feet high, with a short trunk, 1-2 feet in diameter; stout, spreading branches form a broad, rather irregular, open crown.

Often a shrub.

LEAVES.--Alternate, simple, 3-6 inches long, 1/4-3/4 inch broad; lanceolate, very long-pointed, often curved at the tip; finely serrate; thin; bright green and rather l.u.s.trous above, paler and often hairy beneath; petioles very short, more or less p.u.b.escent.

FLOWERS.--April-May, with the leaves; dioecious; borne in crowded, slender, hairy catkins, 1-3 inches long; calyx 0; corolla 0; scales yellow, villous, stamens 3-6; ovary ovoid-conical, short-stalked, with stigmas nearly sessile.

FRUIT.--June; ovoid-conical capsule, 1/8 inch long, containing many minute seeds which are furnished with long, silky, white hairs.

WINTER-BUDS.--Terminal bud absent; lateral buds narrow-conical, acute, l.u.s.trous, red-brown, 1/8 inch long.

BARK.--Twigs glabrous or p.u.b.escent, bright red-brown, becoming darker with age; thick, dark brown or nearly black on old trunks, deeply divided into broad, flat ridges, often becoming s.h.a.ggy.

WOOD.--Light, soft, weak, close-grained, light red-brown, with thin, whitish sapwood.

DISTRIBUTION.--Common throughout the state.

HABITAT.--Banks of streams and lake-sh.o.r.es.

NOTES.--Branchlets very brittle at the base, and these, broken off by the wind, are carried down stream, often catching in the muddy banks and there taking root.

[Ill.u.s.tration: +Almondleaf Willow+

1. Winter twig, 1.

2. Lateral bud, enlarged.

3. Leaf, 1.

4. Staminate flowering branchlet, 1/2.

5. Staminate flower, enlarged.

6. Pistillate flowering branchlet, 1/2.

7. Pistillate flower, enlarged.

8. Fruiting branchlet, 1/2.]

+SALICACEAE+

+Almondleaf Willow+

_Salix amygdaloides Anders._

HABIT.--A tree 30-40 feet high, with a straight, columnar trunk 1-2 feet in diameter; straight, ascending branches form a rather narrow, rounded crown.

LEAVES.--Alternate, simple, 2-6 inches long, 3/4-1-1/4 inches broad; lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, long-pointed; finely serrate; thin and firm; light green and s.h.i.+ning above, pale and glaucous beneath; petioles slender, 1/2-3/4 inch long.

FLOWERS.--April, with the leaves; dioecious; borne in crowded, slender, p.u.b.escent catkins 2-3 inches long; calyx 0; corolla 0; scales yellow, villous both sides; stamens 5-9; ovary oblong-conical, with stigmas nearly sessile.

FRUIT.--May; 1-celled, globose-conical capsule, 1/4 inch long, containing many minute seeds which are furnished with long, silky, white hairs.

WINTER-BUDS.--Terminal bud absent; lateral buds broadly ovoid, gibbous, l.u.s.trous, dark brown, 1/8 inch long.

BARK.--Twigs glabrous, l.u.s.trous, dark orange or red-brown becoming darker orange-brown; thick and brown on old trunks, irregularly fissured into flat, connected ridges.

WOOD.--Light, soft, weak, close-grained, light brown, with thick, whitish sapwood.

DISTRIBUTION.--Common throughout the state.

HABITAT.--Banks of streams.

NOTES.--Hybridizes freely with other willows, making its identification difficult.

[Ill.u.s.tration: +Crack Willow. Brittle Willow+

1. Winter twig, 1.

2. Portion of twig, enlarged.

3. Leaf, 1.

4. Staminate flowering branchlet, 1/2.

5. Staminate flower, enlarged.

6. Pistillate flowering branchlet, 1/2.

7. Pistillate flower, enlarged.

8. Fruiting branchlet, 1/2.]

+SALICACEAE+

+Crack Willow. Brittle Willow+

_Salix fragilis L._

HABIT.--A tree 50-60 feet high, with a short, stout trunk 3-4 feet in diameter; stout, spreading branches form a broad, open crown.

LEAVES.--Alternate, simple, 3-6 inches long, 1/2-1-1/2 inches broad; lanceolate, long-pointed; finely glandular-serrate; thin and firm; l.u.s.trous, dark green above, paler beneath, glabrous both sides; petioles short, stout, with 2 glands at the junction of blade and petiole.