







BEVTSION OF THE BRITISH WILLOWS. 373 



parents. In Salix fragilis the branches (or at least the main ones) 

 make with the stem an angle of 90°, well shown in the lower 



Willo 





Busselliana, Sm.) in the frontispiece of Salictum JVoburnense. In 

 alba the angle is 35°, and in viridis it is said to be 60°. I rather 

 think (from measurements I have made) that the angles made by 

 the twigs show a somewhat similar difference — those of fragilis 

 forming the widest and of alba the narrowest angles, viridis being 

 more or less intermediate. Too much dependence, however, must 

 not be placed on this character. 



Now whilst the characteristics of the typical viridis are as 

 mentioned above, the hybrid, as met \*ith, more frequently shows 

 a departure from these towards either fragilis or alba, till finally 

 it is almost impossible to separate it from one or other of these 

 species. It may also have one set of organs very similar to one 

 of its parents, and another set resembling those of the other parent. 

 Inus the leaves and twigs may be almost inseparable from those 

 of alba, whilst the capsules may be almost identical with those of 

 fragilis, or vice versa. It is hence almost or quite impossible to 

 frame a short description which will include all the characters of 

 this variable plant. In practice, however, the trained eye of a sali- 



cologist will detect differences which cannot easily be expressed in 

 words. 



& viridis is widely distributed in Britain, occurring from 

 Cornwall and Surrey to Perth. How it has hitherto escaped re- 

 ignition is rather surprising, but is probably due to the fact of 

 the failure of salicologists (both British and Continental) to dis- 

 cover that the fragilis of Continental botauists and Smith' s fragilis 

 We ?e different plants, and the consequent confusion regarding, 

 and erroneous determinations of, Smith's Busselliana. Andersson, 

 moreover, in some quite unaccountable way, not only failed to 

 recognize British specimens of viridis, but actually named them 

 fragility and thus led British botanists (who would place a 

 deserved confidence in the opinion of that great salicologist) to 

 naturally believe that viridis did not occur in Britain. Not to 

 specify other instances (e. g. several examples in Kew herbarium *), 

 e case of the specimens in Leefe's ' Salictum Britannicum Exs.' 

 m *y be mentioned. » No. 52. S. fragilis, E. B. t. 1807," of which 



ne instance is very curious. The more mature $ example on a sheet of 



^P^^ens from Upsala, collected and named " fragilis n by Andersson, must, 



. w ,. m ^ to k' s description in the ' Monographia/ belong, beyond doubt, to 











