Willow

Willows, also called sallows, and osiers, form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Most species are known as willow, but some narrow-leaved shrub species are called osier, and some broader-leaved species are referred to as sallow (from Old English sealh, related to the Latin word salix, willow). Some willows (particularly arctic and alpine species) are low-growing or creeping shrubs; for example, the dwarf willow (Salix herbacea) rarely exceeds 6 cm (2.4 in) in height, though it spreads widely across the ground.

Description

Willows all have abundant watery bark sap, which is heavily charged with salicylic acid, soft, usually pliant, tough wood, slender branches, and large, fibrous, often stoloniferous roots. The roots are remarkable for their toughness, size, and tenacity to life, and roots readily grow from aerial parts of the plant.

The leaves are typically elongated, but may also be round to oval, frequently with serrated edges. Most species are deciduous; semievergreen willows; coriaceous leaves are rare, e.g. Salix micans and S. australior in the eastern Mediterranean. All the buds are lateral; no absolutely terminal bud is ever formed. The buds are covered by a single scale. Usually, the bud scale is fused into a cap-like shape, but in some species it wraps around and the edges overlap. The leaves are simple, feather-veined, and typically linear-lanceolate. Usually they are serrate, rounded at base, acute or acuminate. The leaf petioles are short, the stipules often very conspicuous, resembling tiny, round leaves, and sometimes remaining for half the summer. On some species, however, they are small, inconspicuous, and caducous (soon falling). In color, the leaves show a great variety of greens, ranging from yellowish to bluish.

Willow Tree, New South Wales

Willow Tree is a village composed of about 169 people, located in New South Wales, Australia. It is situated in the Liverpool Plains, 14 kilometres south of Quirindi near the junction of the Kamilaroi and New England Highways. The town itself is small but the farms extend southwest out to the township of Warrah. It is a service centre to the rural areas of Warrah and Mount Parry.

History

Willow Tree is located at the north-eastern corner of the enormous Warrah grant which was made out to the Australian Agricultural Company in 1833. An inn was established on the future townsite, at the junction of the roads north to Quirindi and north-east to Wallabadah in the mid-19th century. It was, however, the arrival of the railway in the 1870s that led to settlement. Willow Tree Post Office opened on 1 August 1872 (though known as Warrah for a few weeks in 1877).

The village was surveyed when part of the Warrah grant was subdivided and sold in 1908.

Demographics

According to the 2006 Australian Bureau of Statistics census held on 8 August 2006, the village comprises exactly 169 people, excluding impermanent residents. 84, or 49.7% of them are male, while 85, or 50.3% of them are female. 15.4% of the population were children aged between 0–14 years, while 42.6% of the population were aged 55 years or older. The median age was 50 years, which is higher than the median for all of Australia, 37. 97% of the residents were Australian citizens (88.2% were born in Australia), and 3.6% were born overseas. Other birthplaces for the residents of Willow Tree are England (2.4%), Indonesia (2.4%), and Germany (1.8%).

The Willow Tree

The Willow Tree (Persian: بید مجنون ‎‎, translit. Bid-e Majnoon) is a 2005 Iranian film directed by Majid Majidi. It tells the story of Youssef, a man blinded in a fireworks accident, when eight years old. After an operation he regains his vision, changing his life in unexpected ways. It was filmed from 10 February 2004 – 10 August 2004 in both Tehran and Paris.

Cast

External links

Tree

In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, supporting branches and leaves in most species. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are usable as lumber or plants above a specified height. Trees are not a taxonomic group but include a variety of plant species that have independently evolved a woody trunk and branches as a way to tower above other plants to compete for sunlight. In looser senses, the taller palms, the tree ferns, bananas and bamboos are also trees. Trees tend to be long-lived, some reaching several thousand years old. The tallest known tree, a coast redwood named Hyperion, stands 115.6 m (379 ft) high. Trees have been in existence for 370 million years. It is estimated that there are just over 3 trillion mature trees in the world.

A tree typically has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground by the trunk. This trunk typically contains woody tissue for strength, and vascular tissue to carry materials from one part of the tree to another. For most trees it is surrounded by a layer of bark which serves as a protective barrier. Below the ground, the roots branch and spread out widely; they serve to anchor the tree and extract moisture and nutrients from the soil. Above ground, the branches divide into smaller branches and shoots. The shoots typically bear leaves, which capture light energy and convert it into sugars by photosynthesis, providing the food for the tree's growth and development. Flowers and fruit may also be present, but some trees, such as conifers, instead have pollen cones and seed cones; others, such as tree ferns, produce spores instead.