"Old and Valuable" Whomping Willow - Info

[Brenda M.]

No: HPFGUIDX 109774

>>> bamf, a 'budding' horticulturalist wrote:
> Will you settle for a horticulture student? <<<

Brenda:
Lol, yes! <wide grin>


> Willows: (Salix, genus) very few willows have the
> common 'weeping' shape (most notably demonstrated by
> Salix alba 'Tristis').  Some are very stiff in form,
> some are only a few feet high .  They love water, and
> their have often been known to get into pipes. 
> 
> Willows are fast growing trees, growing 1-1.5 feet per
> growing season.  If it's going to be transplanted and
> used right away (non-magically growth enhanced), my
> guess would be it's about a 10 year old tree at
> planting.  That would make it about 18 feet at the
> time of planting, and strong enough to endure
> students. (And expensive, to boot!)
> 
> Granted, being a fast growing tree mean not being
> long-lived, generally.  A 50 year old willow is a
> long-lived tree.  Not to say that they don't live
> longer than that, but they are usually blown over or
> usually are taken out by disease or bugs.   What is
> considered 'old' depends on each type of tree you are
> talking about. A hard wood tree (oak) is much longer
> lived than a 'soft wood' tree (willow, poplars).


Brenda now:

Awesome, so the Whomping Willow can't be *that* old, at least in 
terms of trees. Muggle tree that is. Gotcha. ;)

I would think that there are spells and enchantments guarding the 
Willow, from bugs per se. To have the Willow grow is another story, 
IMO. Some possibilities are: the Willow was 10 years old and still 
growing when it was first planted (as you suggested), or it was 
already a fully-grown tree, replanted onto Hogwarts ground, then 
magically guarded. After all, we don't hear the Mauraders or Snape 
commenting on how much the Willow has grown, no? (not that lack of 
evidence is evidence...)

I wonder why it was willow though, out of all different kinds of 
trees there are...

Brenda