Tall willows

[treecreeper]

I've had my eye on the tall willows in the foreground since winter. They had the shape of crack willow (salix fragilis) but might have been white willow, so I was waiting for the catkins to come out. Male white willows always have 2 stamens per floret, male crack willows usually have 2 but sometimes 3 (n.b. not all the books tell you this). The catkins are now out and the tree on the right is male. I went over numerous catkins with a lens and all the florets had 2 stamens...but when I was just about ready to assume it was salix alba I found a single floret with 3 stamens. So subject to confirmation when the leaves are mature I am labelling it crack willow. But the moral of the story is, when you examine willows do the job thoroughly!

[Bunnyrabbit]

I didn't know this, I have learnt something new. Thanks.......

[The Woodman]

There's one thing Crack Willow does better than any other willow - that's crack when a twig is bent.

Apart from the perfectly shaped form that Bat Willows end up in as six ounces of spherical leather hits the sweet spot!

[treecreeper]

Originally Posted by The Woodman

There's one thing Crack Willow does better than any other willow - that's crack when a twig is bent.

This diagnostic is often listed in books but until half an hour ago I didn't understand it. I have just been out vandalising the local willows and I think I've got it now. You don't bend the twigs in the middle (what I had been doing), you hold a young twig at the end and pull it away from the parent twig. It snaps at the junction with a satisfying crack. Trying this on goat and grey willows they usually don't break at all, but if they do there's no crack. This pretty well confirms the id of the willows in the picture.

[The Woodman]

They've also got quite a distictive form when compared to White or other willows- the angular branch joints with the spreading crown is the best way I can express it.

Your image shows it very well and I'm glad you're having fun cracking twigs!