184 SALlCACEiE. [part i. 



bases being as brittle as glass. The leaves are 

 of a deep green. The White Willow (Salix 

 alba) differs from the preceding species in the 

 branches being widely spreading and somewhat 

 drooping, the old bark cracked into deep 

 fissures, and the foliage of a silvery grey, owing 

 to the silky hairs with which the leaves are more 

 or less covered. The wood of the Tree Willows 

 is soft and white, and very elastic ; it is there- 

 fore used for cricket-bats, mallets, and other 

 purposes where wood is wanted to resist a hard 

 blow. S. vitellina, the Golden Osier, is so called 

 from its golden-coloured bark ; and S. purpurea, 

 the Purple AVillow, is so called from the colour 

 of its branches. This last species has only one 

 stamen ; but as the anther is four-celled, it is pro- 

 bably two stamens grown together. All the 

 species that have only one stamen have a four- 

 celled anther, as for example the Rose Willow 

 (S. Helix), which has the female catkins red. 

 Salix caprea, the great round-leaved Sallow or 

 Palm Willow, is perhaps the handsomestspecies, 

 from the great abundance and golden hue of its 

 flowers. 



THE GENUS POPULUS. 



The genus Populus (the Poplar) is distin- 

 guished from Salix by the bracts of tlie flowers 

 being deeply cut instead of being entire ; by 

 both the male and female flowers having a calyx; 



