There are a lot of deciduous trees in nature. Among them, the wind stands out for its majesty and silver robes. The word "branches" comes from "twist", "branch" and is associated with the alternation of vowels and consonants. Similar words (same root) exist in Ukrainian, Lithuanian, Latvian, and even Greek.
Botany
What are winds according to this science? This is a typical species of deciduous trees from the Willow family or shrubs from the Willow genus. Vetla has narrow, rather long leaves and flowers, collected in earrings. For example, in the literature we meet: “Near the gate, by the house, there was an old veil and silvered with its leaves in the light of the month.”
According to the data provided in the explanatory dictionaries about what vetles are, some types of poplar, sedge and even aspen can be called so. The people sometimes call it willow, vine, willow, rakita.
White willow
Probably, it got such a name (as an option - silver willow) because of its leaves, which are slightly silver in the light, swaying from the wind. This is an ordinary tree for the middle belt of Russia. But the range of the species is much wider: Europe, Asia Minor, Iran, Western Siberia. Sails well took root in both Central Asia and North America.
What are winds: where and how does it grow?
The tree is bred for the most part as a cultivated one, but quite often runs wild in the places of planting. Vetla grows along the banks of rivers and ponds, as well as other bodies of water. It can take root as a cultivated plant near houses and along the road. Vetla is a photophilous tree, resistant to frost. It is undemanding to the soil in which it grows (but preference is wetlands). It can tolerate urban conditions when cultivated. Silver willow is durable. It lives up to a hundred years or more. Propagated by seeds or cuttings (in culture). Fallen branches can also take root.
Description of appearance
The height of the tree sometimes reaches thirty meters. The crown is wide, round, often weeping. The trunk is powerful, reaching a diameter of three meters (or several trunks branching from the ground itself). The bark is dark gray, bitter in taste, with longitudinal cracks. Shoots are greenish-olive or brown with shades of red, the ends of the shoots are fluffy, silver. Lower branches often lean to the ground. After cutting down the branches, it can take the form of a shrub.
Buds, leaves and flowers
The kidneys are vesicles of red-yellow color, sharp, silky (length - up to 6 mm). They seem to cling to the escape. Leaves with a sharp tip, finely serrate, their edges not turned down (length - from five to fifteen centimeters, width - up to three), whitish, with silver hairs below, and dark green above. In autumn, the leaves do not fall for a long time and acquire a yellow-bronze color.
Flowers are collected in cylindrical earrings (length - up to five cm). Silver willow (or vetlo) blooms in April or May. The process occurs simultaneously with the blooming of the leaves of the tree. The seeds of the veleta ripen by June.
