SALIC ACE^. (willow FAMILY.) 483 



oblong, closely sessile, appearing be/ore the leaves, naked at base; capsules 

 rather shortlt/ pedicelled, greenish or reddish, spreading ; scales dark red or 

 broivnish ; style distinct ; stigmas bijid. 



7. S. humilis, Marsh. (Prairie AV.) Leaves oblanceolate or oblong-lan- 

 ceolate, the lowest obovate; stipules medium-sized, semi-ovate, entire or ol'tener 

 toothed; petioles distinct; aments often recurved, about T long. — Dry plains 

 and barrens, common. A shrub, 3-8° high, varying much in the size and 

 shape of tlie leaves. Hybrids with n. 6 have equally broad and large but duller 

 green leaves, softly tomentose beneath and with shorter petioles, the amenta 

 3<iuail\- thick but usually recurved, and the capsules on shorter pedicels. Small 

 forms apparently pass into the next. 



8. S. tristis, Ait. (Dwarf Gray W.) Leaves small (1-2' long), crowded, 

 linear-oblanceolate , tapering to a very short petiole ; stipules minute, deciduous ; 

 aments very small, glolnilar or oval, about ^' long in fruit. — Sandy plains or 

 on the borders of hillside thickets, common. A tufted shrub, 1-1^° liigh, 

 rising from a strong large root. 



++ ++ ^_^. Low shrubs, 3-10° high, of cold swamps, with slender yellowish or red- 

 dish twigs; leaves lanceolate, smooth above, glaucous beneath and covered 

 when young ivith appressed silvery-silky hairs ; aments {especially the fertile) 

 with a few leafy bracts at base; capsule pedicelled, silvery-silky ; stigmas 

 bifd. 



«= Shrubs 'f lowland swamps ; leaves narrowly lanceolate, 2 -3' long, taper-pointed, 

 finely and evenly serrate ; stipules linear or semi-cordate, deciduous ; aments 

 sessile or in fruit slightly pedu7icled ; style very short. 



9. S. sericea, ^larsh. (Silky W.) Leaves at first (principally beneath) 

 very silky, turning black in drying; aments narrowly cylindrical, the fertile 

 densely flowered ; capsule short-pedicelled, ovate-oblong, rather obtuse. — Com- 

 mon, but more prevalent from the region of the Great Lakes eastward. 



10. S. petiolaris, Smith. Leaves only slightly silky when young, soon 

 smooth, with less tendency to blacken in drying ; fertile aments ovoid-cylindric, 

 in fruit broad and loose from the lengthening of the pedicels ; capsule rostrate 

 from an ovate base, rather acute. — Var. gracilis, Anders., has extremely 

 loose aments, and very long-pedicelled attenuate-rostrate capsules. — Common, 

 but more prevalent from the Great Lakes westward. This species, like the 

 preceding, hybridizes freely with S. cordata. 



= =^ Alpine shrub ; leaves \ -2' long, repand-crenate; stipules minute, fugacious; 

 aments leafy-peduncled; style distinct. 



11 S. argyrocarpa, Anders. Leaves tapering evenly to both ends, 

 acute, or the earliest obovate and obtuse, at length rigid, the margin slightly 

 revolute ; petiole short ; fruiting ament short (about 1' long), loosely flowered ; 

 capsule tapering, densely silky-silvery ; gland of the staminate flower variously 

 doubled. — Moist alpine ravines in a few limited localities on or near ]\It. 

 Washington, N. H. ; also in Lower Canada and Lab. A bushy branched shrub, 

 erect or depressed at base, 1-2° high, growing in wide dense patches. A hy- 

 brid with n. 13 was detected by Mr. E. Faxon in Tuckerman's ravine (its leaves 

 collected by Dr. Gray as early as 1842!), appearing like a large form of the 

 species i^ntu roe amsnts of S. phylicifolia. 



