Obdeb 122.— SALIC kCEM. 651 



t Amenta as long as the petioles, $ much shorter. Fruit large, globular. 

 (Pursh. Our specimens in flower.) Mar., Apr. 



2. COMPTO'NIA, Soland. Sweet Fern. (In honor of Henry 

 Compton, Lord Bishop of London.) Flowers 5" , <3 Ament cylindric ; 

 bract reniform-cordate, acuminate ; calyx-scale 2-parted ; stamens 3, 

 forked, each bearing 2 half anthers. ? Ament ovate ; calyx-scales 6, 

 longer than the bract; styles 2; nut ovoid, 1-celled. — Low shrubs. 

 Lvs. lon<r and narrow, pinnatifid-lobed, with small stipules, strongly aro- 

 matic. 



C. asplenifolia Ait. Lvs. long, linear-lanceolate, alternately sinuate-pinnatifid- 

 — A shrub 2f high, common in dry woods and hills, Can. to Md. (Shriver) and 

 Wis. (Lapham). The main stem is covered with a rusty brown bark which be- 

 comes reddish in the branches, and white downy in the young shoots. Lvs. nu- 

 merous, on short peduncles, 3 to 4' by 6", divided nearly to the midvein into nu- 

 merous rounded lobes so as to resemble those of the Spleenwort. Stip. in pairs, 

 acuminate. Barren flowers in erect, cylindric catkins, terminal and lateral. Fer- 

 tile fls. in a dense, rounded burr or head, situated below the barren one. Fr. a 

 small, ovate, brown, 1-celled nut. May. 



Order CXXIL— SALICACE^E. Willoworts. 



Trees or sJirubs with alternate, simple leaves and deciduous or persistent stipules. 

 Flowers 6 $ , both kinds in aments, one under each bract of the ament. Calyx 

 none or cup-form and entire. Ovary 1 to 2-celled, with 2 short styles. Fruit a 

 capsule, 2-valved, oo-seeded. Seeds with a coma, and no albumen. Illust. in 

 figs. 47, a ; 81, 93, 266, 267, 268, 269, 465. 



Genera 2, species 220, chiefly natives of the northern temperate and frigid zones, one species, 

 Salix arctica, extending farther north than any other known woody plant 



Properties. — The bark is astrinaent and tonic, possessing the febrifugal properties of the sul- 

 phate of quinia. The wood is employed for various economical purposes. Several of the Wil- 

 lows and Poplars are much admired as shade trees. 



1. SA V LIX, Tourn. "Willow. Osier. (Celtic sal, near, and lis, water* 

 alluding to their usual locality.) Aments cylindric, bracts imbricated, 

 entire, 1-flowered, each with a nectariferous gland at base. $ Calyx 

 ; sta. 2 — 7. $ Calyx ; ova. ovoid-lanceolate, acuminate ; stig. 2, 

 mostly bifid ; caps. 1-celled, 2 valved, valves acuminate, finally revolute 

 at summit ; seeds numerous, minute, comous. — Trees, shrubs and under- 

 shrubs. Lvs. usually narrow and elongated, usually with conspicuous 

 stipules. Aments terminal and lateral. 



§ Aments -sessile, expanding before tlie leaves in early spring. Stamens 2. Ovaries 

 clothed with wool, silk or down. Shrubs or small trees. (*) 



* Ovaries pedicellate. Leaves subentire, grayish-downy, rugous, margins subrcv- 



olute. Upland grayish shrubs. Aments smail Nos. 1 — 3 



* Ovaries pedicellate. Leaves serrulate, smooth and shining above, glaucous be- 



neath. Aments large, very hairy. Shrubs S to 15f Nos. 4 — 8 



* Ovaries pedicellate. Leaves serrate, grayish-silky beneath, drying black. 



Aments with 2 or 8 bracts at base Nos. 7, 8 



* Ovaries sessile. Leaves subentire, not drying black ..Nos. 9, 10 



J Aments more or less pedunculate, expanding with the leaves iu late spring. Ovaries 



mostly glabrous. <*). 



* Ovaries clothed with silk or down and pedicellate. Stamens 2. (a) 



a Leaves downy both sides. Ovary long-beaked. Shrub erect No. 11 



a Leaves glabrous when mature. Shrubs low, mostlyalpine, spreading. . .Nos. 12 — 14 

 . * Ovaries glabrous. Shrubs alpine, low, creeping or ascending Nos. 15— IT 



* Ovaries glabrous. Shrubs erect, or trees, 3 to 60f high, (a) 



a Ovaries pedioellato. Scales greenish-yellow, deciduous, (b) 



»• b Stamens mostly 2, sometimes 3. Leaves glaucous beneath Nos. 19, lt> 



• I b Stamens mostly 5 (4 to 6). Leaves green on both sides Nos. 20,21 



a Ovaries pedicellate. Scales dark or black, persistent, (b) 



b Leaves cordate or at least truncate at the base, 4 to 151 high Nos. 22, 28 



b Leaves acute or tapering at baso. Shrubs 6 to lOf high Nos. 24,25 



a Ovaries sessile. Stamens?.. Trees of the largest size Nos. 1:6, 27 



