124 EXPERIMENTS IN CROSS-FERTILISATION OF SALICES. 



abundant at the mouth of the Doll, near Clova, Forfar, not far 



below the S. lauata level. The occurrence of the hybrid may 

 therefore be looked for. At one time I regarded a foliage specimen 

 of S. lanata in the Borrer Herbarium, Kew, as this hybrid ; it was 



labelled " Ex hb. J. H. Balfour 5 Salix . Glen Isla, Aug. 



1837." A note is added by Borrer, " 5 Why not 5. lanata ? " A 

 later hand has added, " Probably S. Caprea by its stipules, 1847." 

 The specimen certainly has a look of both ; but, judged by aid of 

 my own authentic specimens, it must be relegated to S. lanata L. 



S. ciNEREA X Myrsinites, nov. liybr. Set of British Willows, 

 No. 92. Habit ascending; bark very dark, blackish brown; buds 

 dark brown, pubescent ; 1. oblong or ovate-oblong, dull glaucous 

 green beneath, green and shining above, crenate or crenate-serrate ; 

 stipules broadly rounded below, ^-cordate, acuminate, subpersistent; 

 catkins intermediate in size ; anthers reddish yellow. In the north 

 parts of Scotland, where S. Myrsinites L. descends to a low level, 

 this hybrid may well be looked for. As a young bush, my plant 

 has as yet the habit of S. Myrsinites, to which parent the gloss of 

 the upper side of the leaves, the point and persistence of the stipules, 

 the colour of the buds and bark, and the reddish anthers are due. 

 S. cinerea (the male parent) comes out in the larger broad-based 

 stipules, and the larger leaves with their glaucous colouring beneath. 



S. LANATA X KEPENs, uov. hybr. Set of British Willows, No. 99, 

 made at Bournemouth ; also No. 100, made at Shirley, S. Derby. 

 Ascending, bark dark after the first season ; leaves oval-oblong or 

 oblong-lanceolate, entire or faintly crenate, silky at first, but pi. m. 

 glabrescent ; stipules rather small, lanceolate ; catkins large, fairly 

 intermediate, scales oblong-obovate, very silky, discoloured; ovaries 

 glabrous, shortly pedicelled ; nectaries much shorter than pedicels ; 

 style long. The bushes on which this description is founded are both 

 female, and were made by fertilising S. repeiis with pollen of *S'. lanata. 



Since S. herbacea x repens has been ascertained to be one of our 

 British hybrids (Journ. Bot. 1897, 362), there is no antecedent im- 

 possibility that would prevent the union in a native station of 

 S. lanata and *S'. repens ; though the very local range of the former 

 renders the discovery of the hybrid improbable. Such a hybrid 

 might, however, be very easily passed over or laid on one side as 

 doubtful, for in our plants there is little resemblance to either 

 parent ; and, if found wild, they would prove a hard knot for any 

 salicologist to untie. 



Some interesting observations have been made in the course of 

 these investigations, and one of them may be fitly introduced here. 

 As was said above, some combinations have so far resisted our 

 efforts ; in some cases these attempts have been made in vain. 

 Thus, though in theory every willow is supposed to be capable of 

 crossing with each of the other species, experiment seems to show 

 that some cross with greater readiness, others with reluctance, and 

 others again obstinately refuse to enter into any alliance at all. 

 And this throws a httle light (not much !) on the extreme rarity of 

 a likely hybrid such as S. Caprea x cinerea, and the entire absence 

 of some others which are looked for and not found. 



