VIII. 2. THE VARNISHED WILLOW. 265 



This willow, a native of Britain, has been introduced and 

 somewhat extensively propagated in this vicinity. Some of the 

 largest willows near Boston, particularly those on Willow Street, 

 in Dorchester, are of this species. I find some of the leaves at 

 the base of the aments and on the accompanying branchlets, 

 perfectly entire. This seems, also, to be the case with those 

 figured in Eng. Bot., 1S07. 



The four large willows above referred to, were measured, in 

 1839, and gave, at three feet from the ground, the following di- 

 mensions in girth: — the 1st, fifteen feet six inches; 2d, fifteen 

 feet seven inches ; 3d, fifteen feet eight inches ; and the 4th, 

 eighteen feet four inches at four feet, and twenty-one feet six 

 inches at one foot from the ground. The first three were thought 

 to be fifty years old, the fourth sixty or more. This last is a 

 fine tree. It continues to enlarge to the height of nine or ten 

 feet, where it throws out four large branches. Several smaller 

 ones have been broken off by the wind. 



Sp. 10. The Varnished Willow. & decipiens. Hoffman. 



Introduced. 



Figured in Sowerby's English Botany, Plate 1937. 



Leaves lanceolate, pointed, serrate, very smooth ; floral ones partly obovate 

 and re-curved; footstalks somewhat glandular ; stipules half-ovate, acute, 

 toothed, small, often wanting; ovaries tapering, stalked, smooth ; style longer 

 than the cloven stigmas ; branches smooth, highly polished. — /. E. Smith, 

 Eng. Ft., IV, 183. Hooker's Eng. Bot., 417 ; Loudon, Arb., 1515. 



" This forms a small tree of handsome growth, flowering in 

 May. It is readily known by the very smooth bark of the last 

 year's shoots, which is of a light reddish brown, or clay color, 

 appearing as if varnished. The young twigs are often beauti- 

 fully stained with crimson. Leaves very much akin to those 

 of the Bedford willow, but mostly smaller." — Smith, in Eng., 

 Bot. 1937. 



The varnished or porcelain appearance of the branches, not 

 conspicuous at other seasons, makes this willow easy to be dis- 

 tinguished in winter and early spring. It has been extensively 

 propagated in the neighborhood of Boston, and may be seen in 

 35 



