Goat Willow and Walnut Tree
The black walnut is a native of eastern North America, where it grows alongside large rivers as far north as the 'Canadian border. It is a large tree attaining heights of 30 to 40 metres. Under forest competition it develops a tall, clear bole; the open-growri form has a short bole and broad crown. The bark is grey-black and deeply furrowed.
The white willow is found mainly in lowland woods alongside rivers where, together with poplars and alders, it grows on sites with a high water table. It stands up well to prolonged spring floods. Its range of distribution embraces most of Europe, eastwards to western Asia and southwards to North Africa, mainly in the valleys of large rivers. It is a light-demanding tree, resistant to frost, and does well even in heavy and acidic soils. It is marked by the vigorous production of stump sprouts. In practice, it is propagated mainly by cuttings which root readily.
It provides bees with their first feast of the year. The seed ripens and is shed in May. At the base of the leaf stalk are small semiheart-shaped leaf-like bodies (stipules) which soon fall. This tree is propagated, both in the wild and artificially, by seed, as cuttings root very poorly. It is a frost-resistant species that thrives in poorer and drier soils. The goat willow is an important pioneer tree in forestry, and animals are fond of nibbling its bark.
The centre of the walnut's natural range is in central Asia, from where it extended as far as the Balkan Peninsula. It was cultivated by the Greeks and Romans, the boundary of its distribution shifting markedly northward. Today it is widely planted in North Eastern and central Europe, the U.S.A. and other countries. It is a tree which in central Europe does best on sheltered slopes in warm, hill country. On limestone rock it grows up to elevations of 700 to 800 metres.
Often growing alongside brooks near villages are the so-called pollarded willows, the result of cutting-back the trunk and of repeated cutting of the branches over a period of 2 to 5 years. In practice, new individuals are propagated by cuttings.
The crack willow interbreeds easily with the white willow and other willows and therefore one is more likely to come across hybrids than the pure species in the wild. The wood is used for cricket bats, and the young shoots for making baskets.