430 SALICACEJ2. ("WILLOW FAMILY.) 



* Aments small, sessile : c-anj silky: stamens 2. — Low canescent shrubs, with small 



leaves. Anu uts <l vt loped before the leaves. 



1. S. tristis, Ait. Leaves very numerous, lanceolate, obtuse or acute, 

 entire or wavy, at least on the margins, tapering at the base, nearly sessile, cov- 

 ered with a grayish down, at length smoothish above ; stipules minute, caducous ; 

 flowering aments small, globular; the oval bracts hairy on the margins; stylo 

 short; ovary slender, long-beaked. — Dry barren soil, in the t upper districts of 

 Georgia, and northward. March and April. — Shrub l°-2° high. Leaves 

 l'-2' long. 



2. S. humilis, Marshall. Leaves lanceolate, obtuse or abruptly pointed, 

 narrowed into a petiole, smoothish above, grayish-pubescent beneath, often 

 slightly serrate near the summit; stipules small, semi-cordate or lunate, entire or 

 toothed ; flowering aments ovoid or oblong, often drooping, with the lanccolato 

 bracts villous ; style conspicuous ; ovary slender. (S. conifera, Muhl. S. Muh- 

 lenbergiana, Willd.) — Barren soil in the upper districts, and northward. March. 

 Shrub 2° - 4° high, often bearing cone-like excrescences. 



3. S. rosmarinifolia, L. Leaves linear-lanceolate, nearly entire, flat, 

 pubescent above, silky beneath ; ovary lanceolate, villous ; styles elongated. — 

 Swamps and low ground, Florida ? and northward. — Shrub 2° - 4° high. 

 Brandies silky. Leaves l'-2' long. Stipules subulate. Bracts oblong, obtuse, 

 hairy on the margins. 



* * Aments large, cylindrical, sessile, silky-villous, developed before the leaves : ovaries 



woolly. — Large shrubs. 



4. S. discolor, Muhl. Branchlets pubescent; leaves oblong, petioled, 

 acute at each end, serrate in the middle, smooth and shining above, glaucous' 

 beneath; stipules semi-lunar, toothed; aments woolly, with glossy hairs; sta- 

 mens 2 ; ovary white-silky, sessile. — Low ground, Carolina, Purslt, and north- 

 ward. April. — Shrub 8°-10° high. Leaves 2' -4' long. Aments l'-l£' 

 long. 



* * * Aments large, cylindrical, on leafy peduncles or branchlets, appearing with the 



leaves: ovaries smooth, stalked. 



.".. S. Floridana, n. sp. Leaves ovate-lanceolate, acute, smooth above, 

 glaucous beneath, finely serrate, rounded at the base, the petioles pubescent; 

 stipules small, caducous ; fruiting anient oblong, dense ; capsule ovate-lanceolate, 

 smooth. — Rocky banks, West Florida, fruiting in April. — Shrub 8°- 12° high, 

 thin, 2'-8' long. Fruiting aments j' -3' long, 1' in diameter, enveloped 

 in the copious wool of the seeds. Flowers not seen. 



6. S. nigra, .Marshall. Leaves lanceolate, acute at each end, sen-ate, peti- 

 oled, pubescent when young, becoming smoothish and green on both Burfaces ; 



stipules small and caduCOUS, or sometimes lunate, toothed, and persistent ; 



amenta elongated, the fertile ones slender, loose-flowered ; bracts deciduous; sta- 

 mens 3 - 6, hairy below ; capsule ovate, acuminate, pointed by the conspicuous 

 rtyle. (8. Houstoniana, Pttrsh.) — Swamps and muddy hanks of rivers. Florida, 



and northward. A shrub or small tie., with brittle branches. Leaves 2' - 3' 



