I found this large mature crack willow in Ivel springs next to a small stream where I spent a lot of my childhood playing in the woods. It has a broadly domed crown and a thick bole with a large base. The branches are arising from low down near the base.
The bark is dull grey-brown covered with with interlocking crisscrossed ridges. The shoots are dull reddish brown, becoming brighter in early spring as leaves emerge. Leaves are long and glossy with toothed margins and have short green petioles.
This willow has recently dropped a large branch which has formed a makeshift bridge across the river. Perfect for me as a child. Crack Willows often drop branches or small twigs that can be carried along by a river and if they lodge into a bank will root and can form another tree. Often river banks will be lined with same sex trees all derived from pieces of the same tree.
It has a small Sambucus shrub growing at the base along with Urtica dioica. It also seems to have some form of moss growing around the bottom of the base.
This is another Crack Willow located nearby. This has an unusual shape to the base and looks as if it has grown out of fallen branches forming this root like feature.
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