lOiW] SCHNEIDER. NOTES ON AMERICAN WILLOWS. X 85 



This Willow was first mentioned by Hooker (1839) as S. acutifolia Will- 

 denow. Hooker gave a short description from specimens collected by 

 Drummond and Richardson " Saskatchawan to Fort Franklin on the Mac- 

 kenzie River," and said: "Mr. Borrer considers this to be the same as true 

 acutifolia of Willdenow, from the Caspian Sea." This was, of course, a 

 mistake, and our Willow has nothing whatever in common with Willde- 

 now's well-known species. Hooker himself apparently regarded Borrer's 

 determination as doubtful because he expressly stated that the twigs are 

 not pruinose in the dried specimens. In the Herbarium of the New York 

 Botanical Garden I have found a specimen of Richardson's from the Mac- 

 kenzie River under "No. 65 Hb. H.B. & T„" and another specimen labeled 



"SoZir acutifolia FL Bor. Am," of which the later indeed represents the 

 typical S. arbuscuhides. In 1858, Andersson mentioned S. acutifolia Will- 

 denow saying nothing but "Ramum foliatum tantum in herb, vidi," He 

 never quoted Hooker's plant. According to Bebb he passed the specimens 

 of Drummond and Richardson in the Hookerian herbarium as S. petiolaris. 

 He referred, in 1858, the plants on which he later based his S. arhusculoides 

 to S. arbuscula Linnaeus, and at this time he proposed a S. arhuscula labra-^ 

 dorica, a name later omitted by him. He did not cite a tj^e for it, and only 

 stated "Labrador." In describing his S. arhusculoides he gave as type 

 specimen "Prince Albert's Sound (Mietscherling)," and he added "Rae 

 River (Dr. Rae)," and "et in Labrador." (In 1858 he wrote " Miertsching " 

 and "Roe.") Later in the Prodromus Andersson proposed a new name, and 

 said of arhusculoides "nomine incaute graeco-latino delendo." Here he 

 cited Labrador with a ?. In 1867 as well as in 1868 Andersson has two vari- 

 eties: var. puberula and var. glabra. 



Bebb, in 1890, has already discussed this species, and stated that "Prof. 

 Macoun who examined Andersson's types for me in the Kew Herbarium, 

 says, that the specimens of Mieschrlng and Dr. Rae are all on one sheet with 

 no means of telling to which, respectively, the labels belong; that they com- 

 prise apparently two or more species and are very imperfect, a few bearing 

 young catkins." I have had no opportunity to compare these specimens 

 but have examined copious material of this species from which I am able to 

 draw the diagnosis given below. 



It has been described, too, by von Seemen (1895) as S. sasJcatckawana who 

 based his species on Hooker's S. acutifolia of which I have seen the type. 

 Von Seemen does not refer to S. arhusculoides or S. humilliina, and probably 

 did not know Bebb's note. According to a fragment of Von Seemen*s type 

 his species is nothing but Andersson's var. glabra, and certainly not a form 

 of specific rank. Of the typical S. arhusculoides the following description 

 may be given to enable a better understanding of this little known species. 



Frutex in regione arctica humilis sed apud Dawson fide cL Eastwood 

 interdum arbuscula ad 3-6 m, alta ramis rubescentibus nitidis erectis vel 

 interdum pendentibus; ramuli ab initio glaberrimi vel novelli minute puber- 

 uli et cito glabrescentes, hornotini olivacei vel ut annotini atrofusci vel 

 casteani, nitiduli, dein atro-purpurascentes; gemmae floriferae (Eastwood 



