- The Willow Tree -

Tall graceful tree. The trunk is usually well developed with the principal boughs and branches ascending at a sharp angle to form a pointed or truncated crown, or a number of pointed “turrets”.

Height :  10 and 25 meters ,  occasionally up to 30 meters.
 

Location : common by rivers and streams in lowland areas of eastern Britain & Ireland. It generally becomes scarcer westwards, especially in Wales and Scotland.

Catkins appear with the leaves in late April or early May. Male catkins are about 5cm long and uniformly pale yellow, female catkins are shorter and narrower.

Leaves are  between 5 and 10 cm long and about 1 cm wide. Their edges are minutely serrated and the lamina at first silver/grey, and become dull green with age.

The bark is deeply fissured and greyish-brown in colour.