



* 

















1 



BE VISION OF THE BRITISH WILLOWS. 433 



anee with the latter than with the former. In them the pedicel 

 is always (so far as I have seen) present, and is often twice 

 as long as the nectary, though it varies in length even in the 

 same catkin. 



In addition to these variations in the ovary, the structure of 

 the style and stigmas, the shape and size of the catkins and of 

 the leaves, as well as the habit of the plant, are all subject to 

 modification, so that as regards the varieties serrata and arbuti- 

 folia of British lists there is no reason for which they deserve to 

 he retained. 



Nor is it by any means evident that Salix procurribens, Forbes 

 (now considered by most botanists to be a form of S. Myrsinites) 

 has any characters to warrant its retention. Walker-Arnott 

 maintained it as a distinct species chiefly on account of its 

 elongate catkins ; but, as Boswell-Syme points out, this is not 

 a character of any constancy in S. Myrsinites, nor are there any 

 sufficiently distinct characteristics in the habit of the plant, the 

 shape of the leaves, or the structure of the style. 



x Salix Wahlenbergii, And. (S. Myrsinites X S. nigricans.) 

 In the ' Prodromus' Andersson uses the name/!?, myrsinitoides, 

 Fr., for the willow which Wimmer calls 8. Myrsinites-nigricans ; 

 but in %tt's ' Norges Flora,' pt. ii. 1874, he alters the name to 

 «• Wahlenlergii, And., and gives as synonyms S. punctata, 

 Wahl., S. myrsinitoides. Fr., S. niaricans Horealis 3. punctata, 



Myrsinites- 



Wimmer 



Sahces ') appear not to have been very well acquainted with • 

 the 8 P e cies, as their descriptions do not altogether agree, and 

 neither was sure of the distribution. From the ' JSTorges Flora,' 

 however, it would seem that Andersson had become more familiar 

 with the plant, since the description is greatly amplified. After 

 remarking that, through the hybridization of the very variable 

 Myrsinites with the still more variable nigricans, a great number 

 m termediate forms occur, he proceeds to notice three chief 



^edifications, namely, a. subnigricans, b. coriacea, and c. sub- 



■Myrsinites. Since, however, these forms pass imperceptibly into 

 each other, it seems scarcely worth while retaining these names as 

 those of distinct varieties. 



. lts °est form 8. Wahlenbergii combines the characteristics 

 »fe parents, deriving from Myrsinites the rigidity, glossiness, 











