186 DIOECIA— DIANDRIA. Salix. 



and having been collected at Upsal, they ascertain this, at least, 

 to be a native of Sweden, which is confirmed by the Flora Sne- 

 cica, where the root, boiled for a considerable time, is said to 

 serve " the country people for staining eggs of a purple colour." 

 A similar practice in Scotland, at Easter, is of very ancient date. 

 See Anemone Pulsatilla, v. 3. 36. 



20. S. Russelliana. Bedford Willow. 



Leaves lanceolate, tapering at each end, serrated through- 

 out, very smooth. Footstalks glandular, or leafy. Ger- 

 men tapering, stalked, longer than the scales. Style as 

 long as the stigmas. 



S. Russelliana. Fl. Br. 1045. Engl. Bat. v. 26. t. 1808. liees's 

 Cycl. n. 39. Willd. Sp. PL v. 4. G5G. Hook. Scot. 2/9. Purl. 

 V.3. 77. 



S. fragilis. Woodv. t. 198? 



In marshy woods, wet meadows, osier-grounds, or hedges, in va- 

 rious parts of Britain. 



Tree. April, May. 



More handsome than the last in its mode of growth, as well as 

 altogether of a lighter or brighter hue. The branches are long, 

 straight and slender, not angular in their insertion like S.fra~ 

 gilis, and the trees, when stripped of their leaves, may always 

 be distinguished by these marks. They are polished, very tough, 

 flexible, round and smooth. Leaves lanceolate, firm, very 

 smooth, except a little silkiness in the budj their base tapering, 

 not rounded, nor do they at any period approach to the broad 

 ovate form of the preceding ; they are strongly, and rather 

 coarsely, serrated throughout ; the midrib stouter than the last. 

 Footstalks smooth, channelled, glandular, either along their 

 edges, or about the summit, where they occasionally bear 2 or 

 more small lanceolate leujlets. Stipulas half-ovate, toothed or 

 cut, not constantly present. Fertile catkins, which are all I 

 have seen, longer, more lax and tapering than those of S. fra- 

 gilis, their common receptacle less downy. Scales oblong, ei- 

 ther smooth or hairy, deciduous. Germen lanceolate, tapering, 

 smooth, on a smooth stalk, at whose base, on the inside, is a 

 large, abrupt, solitary, glandular nectary. Style equal in length 

 to the deeply divided stigmas. The germen protrudes, beyond 

 the scale, nearly half its own length. 



The foregoing distinctions will always mark this Willow as a sepa- 

 rate species from the fragilis, which is the more important on 

 account of the wide difference in their qualities and value. S. 

 Russelliana, first brought into notice by the late Duke of Bed- 

 ford, who engaged an able chemist, Mr. Biggin, to make expe- 

 riments upon it, was found to contain, in its bark, more of the 

 tanning principle, than any other tree of this country, except 



