





416 



DR. F. BUCHANAN WHITE S 



from a study, both of descriptions and specimens, I cannot find 



grounds 



that which some of the other forms (as, e. g., S. acuminata) have 



been considered entitled to. 



Of all the varieties, stipularis is the one which is most closely 

 related to 8. viminalis. From that species it may be distinguished 

 by the broader leaves with less shining pubescence on the under 

 surface, longer and broader stipules, larger catkins, and less 

 sessile capsules ; but whilst these are its normal characteristics, 

 they may be all more or less so modified as to afford gradations 

 into 8. viminalis on the one side or into /3. sericans on the other. 

 From the latter, its usually tomentose twigs, larger and darker 

 catkins, more sessile capsules, and longer and more filiform 

 stigmas serve to distinguish it, as do also, in the more typical 

 examples, the shape and size of the leaves and of the stipules. 

 But the latter are subject to modification and are not always 

 present ; and the former, which vary even in the same specimen, 

 are not unfrequently so similar to those of some conditions of 

 sericans that, were it not for the other characters, some examples 

 would certainly be, and frequently are, called sericans. la a 

 word, there is no sharp boundary between 8. viminalis and 

 stipularis nor between stipularis and sericans. 



Willows more or less resembling stipularis have been named 

 S. viminalis var. stipularis, Leefe, and 8. Smithiana var. pseudo- 

 stipularis, Lond. Cat. Of these the first includes mere modifi- 

 cations of S. viminalis, as well as forms of stipularis approaching 

 viminalis; whilst " pseudo-stipularis " seems to be applied to 

 plants connecting stipularis with sericans. 



The cf of stipularis seems now to be unknown*, though it is 

 figured both by Smith and by Forbes. The parentage, other 

 than from S. viminalis, is doubtful, and some authors have 

 thought that 8. cinerea is the unknown factor in its origin. 

 Wimmer suggests that it is a hybrid between 8. viminalis and 

 8. dasy dados, Wimm. (=S. acuminata, Sm.). I suspect that 

 Wimmer is so far right in supposing that it has originated from 

 a cross between S. viminalis and one of the viminalis-Caprea 

 hybrids ; but whether this hybrid is acuminata is doubtful. 



S. stipularis is almost confined to Britain, but, though it* 

 value as an osier is said to be small, whether it is really more 

 than an escape from cultivation is very uncertain. 



* Since this was written I have found a single 3 bush— apparently self-sown 

 near Perth. I fear, however, that it has been latelv eradicated. 





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