the Willow, a genus of plants belonging to the dioecia clas; and in the natural method ranking under the 5th order, Amentaceae. See Botany Index.

Willow trees have been frequently the theme of poetical description, both in ancient and modern times. In Virgil, Horace, and in Ovid, we have many exquisite allusions to them and their several properties; and for a melancholy lover or a contemplative poet, imagination cannot paint a fitter retreat than the banks of a beautiful river, and the shade of a drooping willow. The Babylonica, Babylonian pendulous falix, commonly called weeping willow, grows to a large size, having numerous, long, slender, pendulous branches, hanging down loosely all round in a curious manner, and long, narrow, spear-shaped, serrated, smooth leaves. This curious willow is a native of the east, and is retained in our hardy plantations for ornament; and exhibits a most agreeable variety, particularly when disposed singly by the verges of any piece of water, or in spacious openings of grassy ground.

All the species of salix are of the tree kind, very hardy, remarkably fast growers, and several of them attaining a considerable stature when permitted to run up to standards. They are mostly of the aquatic tribe, being generally the most abundant and of most prosperous growth in watery situations: they however will grow freely almost anywhere, in any common soil and exposure; but grow considerably the fastest and strongest in low moist land, particularly in marshy situations, by the verges of rivers, brooks, and other waters; likewise along the sides of watery ditches, &c., which places often lying waste, may be employed to good advantage, in plantations of willows, for different purposes.