14 The Ohio Naturalist. [Vol. IV, No. 1, 



Salix nigra X Salix amygdaloides. 



The two parents of this hj-brid are so common and so closely 

 related— one was formerly considered a variet}' of the other — 

 that one would expect it to be one of the commonest crosses. But 

 such is not the case. Less than half a dozen plants of it have 

 been found within our borders. This is probabh' because Sa/ix 

 aDiygda/oidc's blooms two weeks earlier than Salix u/ora and the 

 two do not normally overlap, so that there is no chance for 

 crossing. The scarcity of hybrids in this region is more remark- 

 able from the fact that in some localities intermediates are very 

 abundant. In the vicinity of St. Louis, where the southern Sa//x 

 longipes enters in and complicates the matter, Dr. Glatfelter 

 reports that not half the plants are nominal and that there are all 

 sorts of intermediates connecting them. 



Prof. A. D. Selby collected the first plant from this State. It 

 is, however, not a good intermediate, but is much closer to S. 

 nigra. Later one or two trees were discovered around Columbus. 

 These also were not as nearly half waj- between the two as might 

 be desired. During the sunnner just pas.sed a very fine example 

 was found within a stone's throw of the new Lake Laboratory 

 building on Cedar Point. 



It is a ver}' fair intermediate betw^een the two species. From a 

 distance it resembles Salix a)nygdaloides ; though only a bush in 

 a thicket it has the clean branching habit of Salix amygdaloides m 

 contrast to the scraggly habit of the other species. The slender- 

 petioled leaves hang with that peculiar grace characteristic of the 

 Peach-leaved Willow. The buds are nearly as large as in that 

 species, i. e., twice as large as in the Black Willow. But the 

 leaves are lanceolate, neither as broad as one nor as narrow as the 

 other commonly is. The coarser venation is that of Salix aifiyg- 

 daloidcs : there is scarceh' an}' marginal and the primaries are 

 close, ascending. But the smaller veins show a reticulation as 

 fine as in Salix nigra. The under surfaces of the leaves show no 

 sign of the glaucescence of Salix amygdaloides, but are only 

 .slightly paler as in the other species. 



An Ai?nok^[ality of Salix skricea. 



South of Columljus is a swamp, now nearly drained, which is 

 one of the few places near the city where Salix serieea flourishes 

 in abundance. Among several interesting forms growing here is 

 one plant which may be somewhat contaminated with some other 

 species or simply almormal. 



Part of its llow^ers are exactly as the}- should be in Salix serieea 

 but others have a very peculiar a])pearance. The rhachis and 

 scales are very wooly, covered with long white hair which all but 

 conceals the capsules. The latter are .sometimes covered wdth 



