16 THE BRITISH WILLOWS 



Catkins H-3 in. long ; bracts broadly obovate to oblong-spathu- 

 late, ± hairy or glabrous, dull yellowish; stamens 2 (or 2-3), 

 filaments hairy at the base, peduncles leafy ; $ catkins elongate, 

 pedicels at length 3-5 times as long as the short quadrate 

 nectaries, ovaries ovate-conic, usually tapering into a moderate 

 style. 



Dr. B. White gives no localities for this hybrid except those 

 for the form which I have placed below as subsp. decipiens 

 (Hoffm.). The willow from St. Neots (I.e. p. 353), which he 

 thought to be x S. alopecuroides Tausch. was proved by cultiva- 

 tion to be S. triandra only. 



The plant issued as No. 78 in Linton's set of British Willows 

 is from the valley of the Tarrant, Dorset, and though diandrous, 

 fairly represents the hybrid in all other respects. In Herb. 



Borrer at Kew are two sheets labelled " Salix cort. decid., 



Croft, Yorkshire," no date, probably gathered in June, which 

 combine the characters of S. fragilis and S. triandra very 

 equally, and the plant no doubt is the hybrid between these two. 

 Its distribution in Britain is very restricted: — Dorset, Surrey, 

 Leicester ? Yorkshire ; in Ireland, near Limerick. Europe : 

 France, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bohemia, Transylvania. 



Subs. S. decipiens (Hoffmann). 



Syn. S. decipiens Hoffmann, Hist. Sal. vol. 2, fasc. i. 9 ; 

 Sm. in Eees Cycl. No. 37 ; Sm. Engl. Flora iv. 183 ; Leefe, 

 Trans. Bot. Soc. Edinb. i. 160 (1844). — S. fragilis x triandra 

 B. White, Eevision, 348. — S. fragilis v. porcellanea Baenitz (see 

 exs. below). 



Icon. Hoffm. op. cit. t. 31. E. Bot. t. 1937. Forbes Sal. 

 Wob. t. 29. 



Exs. Leefe, Sal. exs. No. 50. Fries, Hb. Norm. ix. 61, as 

 S. fragilis var. decipiens. E. F. & W. E. Linton, No. 30. — S. 

 fragilis var. porcellanea Baenitz, Baenitz Hb. Europ., from 

 Konigsberg. 



A small tree ; bark rugose, flaking off on old stems ; twigs 

 somewhat grooved, red or crimson on the exposed side in early 

 growth, becoming clay-coloured or yellowish- grey by winter and 

 highly polished; buds roundly oval glabrous, many turning 

 black in late autumn or winter. Stipules uncommon, |-cordate 

 rounded to acuminate. Leaf -blades 3-3| in. long, glabrous 

 serrate, lanceolate acuminate or attenuate at the tip, parallel- 

 sided in the middle, narrowed or rounded at the base, of a bright 

 oleaginous green above, pale green beneath, often finely reticulate 

 with dark green veins. Catkins few, distant, with a few recurved 

 leaves on the peduncle reticulate beneath ; $ \\ in. long, with 

 2 nectaries, bracts rather short ovate obtuse concave, silky with 

 long hairs ; stamens 2 (rarely 3) ; $ catkins at length l|-2 in., 

 long, slender, pedicels short, the lower ones perhaps eventually 

 2-3 times as long as the very short nectaries (as in Hoffmann's 

 figure) ; bracts shortly obovate-oblong, rounded above, ± silky ; 

 ovanes glabrous, ovoid-conic gradually narrowed into a short 

 style. 



