314 



COVILLE 



Kotzebue Sotind. — At Camp Retreat, on the delta of the Kowak or 

 Putnam River, G. M. Stoney, iSS6. 



5. SALIX AMPLIFOLIA Coville. Yakutat Willow. 

 Plate XXXV. 

 Salix amplifolia Coville, Proc. Wash. Acad. Sci, 2 : 282. pi. /j. 1900. 



A shrub or small tree, ordinarily about 10 to 16 feet (3 to 5 meters) 

 high, with a trunk three to four inches (7.5 to 10 cm.) in diameter, 

 but sometimes attaining a height of 25 feet (7.5 meters) with a trunk 

 a foot (30 cm.) thick. The young twigs are stout and densely villous- 

 pubescent. The leaves are large, oval to broadly obovate, 5 to S cm. 

 long when fully developed, entire, or denticulate on the margins below, 

 somewhat villous when young, smooth or nearly so at maturity, with- 

 out stipules. The catkins, appearing with the leaves on leafy-bracted 

 peduncles, are very large and thick, about 1.5 cm. in diameter and 4 

 to 6 cm. in length, the fruiting catkins often becoming 2 cm. in 

 diameter. The ovary and cai^sule are smooth, the style commonly 3 

 to 4 mm. long. Occasionally the ovaries are slightly hairy. The 

 species is known only from Yakutat Bay, Alaska, where it was dis- 

 covered by the Harriman Expedition. The tree was first observed on 

 the west shore of the bay growing on and near the sand dunes that lie 

 back of the beach, and was afterward collected in Disenchantment 

 Bay at Egg Island, Hubbard Glacier, and Haenke Island, and later 

 at the Indian village at the head of Yakutat Bay, east shore. Speci- 

 mens were collected by Coville and Kearney (Nos. 1013a, 1061, 1062, 

 1074, 1089, 1 1 22, 1 1 23, 1 153, 1 158), Trelease and Saunders (Nos. 

 3340 to 3342, 3465), Brewer and Coe (Nos. 89, 90), and Fernow. 

 The type specimen. No. 1153, was collected at the Indian village, not 

 as stated in the original description on the west shore of the bay. 



Salix amplifolia bears considerable resemblance to richardsoni and 

 barclayi., but the species from which it differs least is Salix hookeriana 

 Barratt, which occurs on the sea coast from Oregon to British Colum- 

 bia. Like affiplifolia, hookeriana lacks the stipules so conspicuous 

 in richardsoni and in barclayi^ but hookeriana is readily distinguish- 

 able from the Yakutat tree by its shorter styles, about i mm. in length, 

 the permanent though sometimes thin tomentum on the backs of the 

 leaves, the earlier appearance of the catkins, which precede the leaves, 

 and the absence or rudimentary character of the green bracts on their 

 peduncles. 



