308 COVILLE 



Salix sitc/iettsis is ordinarily a large shrub or small tree, individual 

 specimens often reaching lo to 15 or rarely 30 feet (3 to 9 meters) in 

 height, with a trunk four to six inches or occasionally even a foot (10 

 to 30 cm.) in diameter. In exposed situations it sometimes fiow^ers 

 and fruits as a small shi'ub a few feet in height, and on the bare 

 morainal gravels at Muir Glacier it even joined the other smaller 

 willows in becoming almost prostrate. In addition to the attractive- 

 ness of a rather graceful form, this willow bears a foliage of singular 

 beauty. On close inspection the leaves present a satiny sheen of 

 daintiest delicacy and softness, varying in intensity with the uneven- 

 ness of the leaf surface. This appearance, largely lost in the dried 

 specimens, is due to a dense covering, on the louver surface of the 

 leaves, of closely appressed short hairs. No other Pacific Coast 

 willow has the same character, and when one has known it in the 

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

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

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

 sometimes remotely denticulate, and when fully developed about 4 to 

 6 cm. long, except on vigorous shoots, where they often reach 10 

 cm. The flowers of the male catkins have but a single stamen each. 

 All other Alaskan willows have two stamens. 



Salix sitchensis is a characteristic plant of the Sitkan floral district, 

 extending from the southernmost limit of Alaska northward and west- 

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

 Island. It was observed at as high an elevation as 1,400 feet. Where 

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

 streams and beaches and in similar sunshin}^ 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, and along the mountains through 

 British Columbia into the Cascade Range of Washington and Oregon. 



The wood of the satin willow is sometimes used by the Indians of 

 southern Alaska in drying salmon, since its smoke does not give the 

 fish a bad taste as do some other kinds of fuel. Its pounded bark is 

 sometimes applied directly to a cut or wound, to assist in healing. 

 The Tlinkit tribes, which extend from Yakutat Bav nearly or quite to 

 Dixon Entrance, call it chaktl, or more precisely, c/i^a'-tlk. ^ They 

 give the same name to other and probably to all the species of willow 

 in that region. This shows how little the willows enter into their use- 

 ful arts, for wherever in the United States the willow is employed in 



^ The diacritic marks used are those of the Century Dictionary. 



