40 



the Lake of the Clouds it is more erect, 2^ to 4 feet high, with 

 stems I to i}^ inches in diameter, diffusely branched, sometimes 

 with stems depressed, perhaps by snow, and only the branches 

 ascending or upright" 3. " In the Great Gulf, near Spaulding's 

 Lake, the altitude above the sea is nearly the same as the plant 

 occupies in Tuckerman's Ravine on the opposite side of the 

 mountain, but here it is protected by growing among alders and 

 other small trees, and attains a height of 10 feet, with a stem 4 

 inches in diameter." 



This last is one of Mr. Faxon's interesting discoveries, and 

 gives to 5. phylicifolia as found in the White Mountains, the 

 same range of variation in stature, dependent upon altitude and 

 exposure, which the species exhibits in Europe. 



The characters specified by Prof. Andersson as serving to 

 distinguish his 5. chlorophylla from the Old World S. phylici- 

 folia^ are most noticeable in the Rocky Mountain 5. chlorophylla 

 var. pycnosiachyay but when we come to compare the plant of 

 the White Mountains and Labrador with the European proto- 

 type, we find the leaves are not '' more or less covered with silky 

 hairs/' the aments are not " narrower and more compact," the 

 capsule is not " shorter pedicelled," the style is not " longer." 

 Absolutely no such differences exist, and Carey, Tuckerman, 

 Barratt and all the early New England botanists were quite right 

 in referring the plant in- question to the old Linnsean species. 

 Doubtless Prof Andersson felt that it would be more convenient 

 everyway and would give a more " scientific frontier" to his 

 new species 5, chlorophylla, to draw the dividing line through 

 the middle of the Atlantic ; but, alas, willows will not grow to 

 suit the dividing Hues of the wisest of salicologists. 



In approaching the study of American willows in their rela- 

 tionship with the European, Prof Andersson makes the following 

 observations : * " Looking into the American Floras published 

 by various authors since the time of Michaux, we find that the 

 indigenous sahces of America (with the exception of a few of the 

 most arctic) all \sic'\ have names totally differing from the Euro- 

 pean species. Now this was hardly to be expected, when the 

 well-known fact is considered that the vegetation of a large part 



* 



Synopsis of North American Willows. \ 



