=1.= =Salix nìgra= Marshall. Willow. Black Willow. Plate 10. Shrub or
tree 5-20 m. (17-65 feet) high, dark green in mass color; bark of trunk
thick, rough, flaky, dark brown to nearly black; twigs brittle at base,
the younger pubescent and green, becoming glabrous and darker with age;
buds ovate, small, 2-3 mm. (1/8 inch) long; petioles 3-6 or 8 mm.
(1/8-3/8 inch) long; stipules small, ovate to roundish; leaf blades
narrowly lanceolate, acute or rounded at base, long-acuminate at the
apex, 6-11 cm. (2-1/4-4-1/4 inches) long, 7-12 mm. (1/4-1/2 inch) wide,
often falcate (scythe-shaped), the so-called variety =falcata=, finely
serrate, green on both sides, shining above, paler and dull beneath,
glabrous or sometimes pubescent beneath on midrib and larger veins;
flowers appearing with the leaves in late April in the southern part of
the State and well into May in the northern part; catkins slender, 2-5
or 6 cm. (4/5-2 or 2-1/2 inches) long, the staminate bright yellow;
capsules 3-5 mm. (1/8 inch) long, ovoid or ovoid-lanceolate, on pedicels
1-2 mm. (1/16 inch) long.
=Distribution.=--New Brunswick and New England, westward to the eastern
part of the Great Plains area from North Dakota to Texas, and, in some
forms, westward across that State and into Mexico. It is interesting
that this species, the first willow published in America, in the first
book on American Botany ever published in this country, should be
abundantly and widely distributed in the United States.
Specimens have been seen from the following counties in Indiana:--Allen
(Deam); Bartholomew (Deam); Clark (Deam); Crawford (Deam); Dearborn
(Deam); Dubois (Deam); Decatur (Deam); Floyd (Deam); Fulton (Deam);
Harrison (Deam); Hendricks (Deam); Henry (Deam); Jackson (Deam); Jay
(Deam); Jennings (Deam); Knox (Deam); Kosciusko (Deam); Lagrange (Deam);
Marion (Mrs. Chas. C. Deam); Marshall (Deam); Miami (Deam); Morgan
(Deam); Noble (Deam); Ohio (Deam); Parke (Deam); Perry (Deam); Porter
(Deam); Posey (Deam); Pulaski (Deam); Ripley (Deam); Steuben (Deam);
Sullivan (Deam); Tippecanoe (Deam); Vermillion (Deam); Wabash (Deam);
Warrick (Deam); White (Deam).
=Economic Uses.=--The black willow is used very extensively along the
lower reaches of the Mississippi River in making mattresses which
protect the levees from washing. In 1912, it was estimated that 150,000
cords were used annually.
=2.= =Salix amygdaloìdes= Andersson. Willow. Peach-leaved Willow. Plate
11. Trees 3-12 m. (10-40 feet) high, yellowish-green in mass color; bark
of trunk fissured, dark brown or reddish-brown; twigs longer and less
brittle than those of _Salix nigra_, yellowish to reddish-brown, usually
somewhat drooping, giving a "weeping" effect, which, with the color,
makes the species easily recognizable from a distance; buds ovoid, about
3 mm. (1/8 inch) long, colored as the twigs; petioles long, slender,
twisted, 5-15 or 20 mm. (1/4-4/5 inch) long; leaves lanceolate to
broadly lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, rounded or somewhat acute at
base, long-pointed at apex, closely serrulate, 5-12 cm. (2-5 inches)
long, 1.5-3 cm. (3/5-1-1/4 inches) wide, yellowish-green above, glaucous
beneath, glabrous; flowers appear from late April throughout May,
usually later than those of _Salix nigra_; catkins slender, 3-5 cm.
(1-2 inches) long, the fertile becoming 4-8 cm. (1-1/2-3 inches) long in
fruit; capsules lanceolate, 4-5 mm. (1/6 inch) long; pedicels slender, 2
mm. (1/12 inch) long.
[Illustration: Plate 11.