79 



between the veins, delicate, prominent beneath, forming small areolae be- 

 tween veinlets ; petiole 2-12 mm. long, semiterete, dilated towards the base, 

 glabrous ; stipules sessile or subsessile, oblique in form, falcato-lunate, acute, 

 serrulate, shorter or somewhat longer than the petiole, chartaceo-coriaceous, 

 subglaucous and veiny beneath, glabrous. Catkins (male) appearing before 

 the leaves, laxly placed, lateral, sessile or very shortly stipitate, sometimes 

 few-bracteate, cyl in drico- oblong, obtuse, very densely scaly, 2-4 cm. long; 

 bracts t^mall, squamiform, oblong, entire or minutely serrulate. Scales 

 subulate to subulato-lanceolate, or ovato-subulate, attenuately acuminate, 

 black excepting the base, loosely ciliated with villose white hairs (hairs not 

 exceeding the scale) on the margin, glabrous on both surfaces, about 

 2^-4 mm. long. Stamens 2 but united to 1, longer than scales, 6 mm. long, 

 glabrous ; filaments filiform, white ; anthers 2, close one another, connected 

 at the base dorsally, lato-oval. Rudimentary pistil 1, linear, subbifid- 

 truncate at the top, 1 mm. long. Female plant unknown. 



Nom. Jap. Kuro-yanagi. 



Hah. Prov. Musashi : Tokyo, Bot. Gard. Koishikawa, cult. {S. Okuho\ 

 herb. Sc. Coll. Imp. Univ. Tokyo ; J. 3Iatsumura ! herb. ibid. April and 

 May 1881; K. Saivada\ herb. ibid. July 23, 1879, T. 3Iahino\ herb, 

 ibid. March 1896; S. 31atsuda\ herb. ibid. March 18, 1890, April 14, 

 1903, June 6, 1903; T. MaMno\ June 2, 1890, Sept. 27, 1895, Oct. 

 1898, March 28, 1899, Aug. and Nov. 9, 1900); Prov. Mino : Kusafuka, 

 cult. (7; Makino\ Aug. 1899). 



This is cultivated, and the female plant yet unknown to us. It differs 

 from the type of Salix Thunhergimia Bl., which bears following characters, 

 namely : Branchlets tomentoso-pubescent ; leaves adpressed-tomentoso-pubes- 

 cent beneath, tomentoso-pubescent on midrib and when young thinly tomentose 

 above, petiole tomentoso-pubescent; stipule tomentoso-pubescent beneath ; cat- 

 kin (male) cylindrical, or oblong-cylindrical, 3-8 cm. long ; scales triangular- 

 subulate to linear-subulate, acuminate, long-villose on the margin and both 

 surfaces (hairs much exceeding the scales) ; stamen much longer than scales and 

 exceeding its hairs. The form and venation of leaves similar in both ones. 



Swertia (Ophelia) Tashiroi (Maxim.) Makino in Bot. Mag., Tokyo, 

 XVII. (1903) p. 53, in nota. 



Ophelia Tashiroi Maxim, in Mel. Biol. XII. p. 495 (1886). 



Biennial, 13-37 cm. in height, glabrous. Pvoots often spreading. 

 Stem robust, erect, terete, attaining about 7 mm. in diameter at the 



