278 COVILLE 



SALIX SITCHENSIS Sanson. Satin Willow. 

 Sa/ix si/c/tefisi's BASSO'S ; Bongard, Mem. Acad. Petersb. 2: 162. 1831.' 



Type locality near Sitka, Alaska, the precise spot pointed out in 

 detail below. 



Salix sitchensis is ordinarily a large shrub or small tree, indi- 

 vidual specimens often reaching 10 to 15 or rarely 30 feet in 

 height, with a trunk four to six inches or occasionally even a foot in 

 diameter. In exposed situations it sometimes flowers and fruits as a 

 small shrub a few feet in height, and on the morainal gravels at the 

 Muir Glacier it even joined the other smaller willows in becoming 

 almost prostrate. In addition to the attractiveness of a rather grace- 

 ful form, this willow bears a foliage of singular beauty. On close in- 

 spection the leaves present a satiny sheen of indescribable delicacy 

 and softness, varying in intensity with the unevenness of the leaf sur- 

 face. This appearance, which is largely lost in the dried specimens, 

 is due to a dense covering, on the lower surface of the leaves, of 

 closely appressed short hairs. No other Pacific Coast willow has the 

 same character, and when one has familiarized himself with it in the 

 field he can readily distinguish the satin willow, by its foliage alone, 

 from all the other species. The leaves are oblanceolate to obovate, 

 broadly acute to obtuse at the apex, narrowed at the base, entire or 

 rarely denticulate, and when fully developed about 4 to 6 cm. long, ex- 

 cept on vigorous shoots, where they often reach 10 cm. In different 

 published works the plant has been given the names Sitka willow, 

 silky willow, and velvet willow, but the name satin willow seems 

 preferable to all of these. 



Salix sitchensis is a characteristic plant of the Sitkan floral dis- 

 trict, extending from the southernmost limit of Alaska northward and 

 westward along the coast to Cook Inlet and the eastern end of Kadiak 

 Island. It was observed at as high an elevation as 1400 feet. Where 

 the forests of Sitka spruce were dense the willow grew along the 

 streams and beaches and in similar sunshiny situations, but where the 

 forest was open or wanting it might occur anywhere on the solid up- 

 land at the proper elevation. South of Alaska, Salix sitchensis ex- 

 tends along the coast to California, having been reported from as far 

 south as Santa Barbara, and through British Columbia into the Cas- 

 cade Mountains of Washington and Oregon. 



The distribution of the satin willow in Alaska as observed on the 

 Harriman Expedition is here given in detail. 



' For synonymy, see Sargent's ' Sylva of North America ' and ' Sudworth's 

 Nomenclature of the Arborescent Flora of the United States.' 



