VIII. 2. WOOLLY-HEADED SWAMP WILLOW. 259 



nor the "ovaries sessile; " and the leaves are twice or thrice as 

 long as those described by Willdenow and figured in the Annals 

 of Botany. Dr. Barratt has paid far more attention to this fam- 

 ily, and with far better opportunities for studying it than either of 

 the above-named botanists ; and he will, doubtless, remove these 

 difficulties in his long-hoped-for work on American willows. 



There are great defects in the descriptions given of our wil- 

 lows, by most foreign botanists. Not unfrequently, their de- 

 scriptions will apply equally well to several plants, and speci- 

 mens may be gathered from the same plant, more unlike than 

 the descriptions of so called distinct species. Dr. Bigelow found 

 this willow in wet swamps at Dedham. 



Sp. 4. The Woolly-headed Swamp Willow. & eriocephala. 



Michaux. 



Leaves elliptic-lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, entire and wedge-shaped at 

 base, entire, remotely, and indistinctly, or distinctly serrate on the edge, mu- 

 cronate, the serratures more multiplied and sharp towards and sometimes quite 

 to the point ; green above, glaucous, or ferruginous beneath ; when young, 

 conspicuously downy on the whole of both surfaces ; late in the season downy 

 on the mid-rib above, and on the whole surface beneath, rarely smooth. Sti- 

 pules half-heart-shaped, serratures pointed, rarely somewhat obtuse. 



Branchlets dark brown or purplish, very downy. 



A small tree, conspicuous in the swamps in April for its large 

 and very densely woolly catkins. 



The short description of Michaux, Fl. Bor. Amer. II, 225, 

 " Diandrous, branchlets minutely tomentose, leaves oblong- 

 oval, somewhat retuse at base, serrulate ; aments oval, exceed- 

 ingly villous," applies equally well to nearly all the willows of 

 this section. 



Sp. 5. The Prinos-like Willow. S. pri?ioides. Pursh. 



Leaves oval-oblong, acute, remotely undulate-serrate, smooth, glaucous be- 

 neath ; stipules semi-cordate, cut-toothed ; aments preceding the leaves, hairy ; 

 ovaries stalked, ovate, acuminate, silky ; style long ; stigmas bifid. — Pursh, 

 11,613. 



The matured and flowering branches are smooth, shining, 

 dark purple. The recent, leafy twigs, very slightly downy, 



