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Silver In The Swamps
Silver in the Swamps by Valerie Allgrove March 2009
Published in Northwest Passage, Northwest Park of Windsor's Quarterly nature publication.
Pussywillows (Salix discolor) are one of the first flowers of spring. Before Coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara) raises its yellow face to the sun, Pussywillows have spread small clouds of softly gleaming silver in the swamps and wet woodland clearings. By the end of March or mid-April, look for them mixed in with other shrubby trees along the edges of streams, or in other damp areas. This small tree or large bush likes damp settings.
When my daughter and I go out into the woods to find pussywillows, we wear rubber boots, winter coats and hats, squelching along looking for the right shape of branches against the sky. When we find them, she reaches out to touch them, and exclaims about the softness of the flowers. The part of the plant that gives the Pussywillow its name is the silvery, furry covering that precedes the flower stamens. They are like the soft downy fur of a young animal.
Although no plants should ever be collected in Northwest Park, there are plenty of other swampy, wooded areas in and around Windsor that have not yet been developed into housing or corporate office buildings. Early in the year, we can find pussywillow that have not yet opened by remembering where we saw them last year, and knowing the shapes of the branches. If brought home and placed in warm water, these will open up after a few days.
Later in the spring, as we walk or drive by the places where we spotted pussywillows, we find that the silver coverings have opened up into pale yellow-green catkins. It may have been these that Robert Frost had in mind when he wrote about his own New England spring:
Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold,
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
I always mark the locations of these spots in my mind's eye for next year's adventures.
Salix discolor is the scientific name for pussywillow, which is indeed a member of the willow family. "Height to 25 feet, leaves alternating, to 5 inches long when mature. Flowers appear in spring before leaves," which we recognize as an eternal, reassuring sign that winter is losing its grip on the landscape. (Palmer's Field Guide to Natural History, 1949, p. 149).
The other place to look for pussywillows in Spring is in the flower section of your local grocery store, in among the Easter lilies, hothouse tulips, and big pastel hyacinths. But if you asked my daughter and her friends; they'd tell you that it's a lot more fun to put on our coats and hats and rubber boots, step out into the woods and swamps, and see what we can find for ourselves.
*gracefully edited by Jonathan Tucker. XXO
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