CATKIN-BEARING TRIBE 153 



Ch-oup II. Triandr^. — Borr. 



Stamens 3 ; capsules stalked ; catkins loose and leafy ; trees or large 

 shrubs with glossy serrated leaves and stipules shorter than the leaf-stalks, 

 most of the plants constituting excellent osiers. 



5. Blunt-stipuled Triandrous Willow (»S'. tridndra). — Leaves 

 serrated ; stipules half heart-shaped, blunt ; scales of the catkins smooth, or 

 slightly hairy ; stigma nearly sessile. Several forms of this Willow occur, 

 differing chiefly in the shape and tint of the leaves, which are always 

 perfectly smooth, but which in one variety are oblong-lanceolate, in another 

 linear-lanceolate, in some more approaching to egg-shaped. These have been 

 described as difterent species, and are known as the Long-leaved Triandrous 

 Willow, the French Willow, Short-leaved Triandrous Willow, and the 

 Almond-leaved Willow. This species furnishes in all its forms tough, flexible 

 boughs, which afford excellent material for wicker-work, hoops, and crates. 

 The catkins appear from March to June, and the tree sometimes attains a 

 height of thirty feet. It may be found in wet woods and by watersides ; 

 and many a patient angler has sheltered himself beneath its boughs, or gone, 

 as Clare describes the peasant as doing — 



" To seek the brook that down the meadow glides 

 Where the grey Willow shadows by its sides ; 

 Where flag and reed in wild disorder spread, 

 And bending bulrush bows its taper head ; 

 And just above the surface of the floods, 

 Where water-lilies mount their snowy buds, 

 On whose broad swimming leaves of glossy green 

 The shining dragon-fly is often seen ; 

 Where hanging thorns with roots wash'd bare appear, 

 That shield the moor-hen's nest from year to year ; 

 While crowding osiers mingling wild among, 

 Prove snug asylums to her brood when young, 

 Who, when surprised by foes approaching near, 

 Plunge 'neath the weeping boughs and disappear." 



It is one of the most valuable Osiers, and is often cultivated for basket-work, 

 and the almond-leaved variety bears its flowers not only in the spring, ' but 

 again in August. 



6. Sharp-stipuled Triandrous Willow (S. unduldta). — Leaves 

 lanceolate, tapering to a fine point, sharply and finely serrated, often wavy.; 

 stipules half heart-shaped, acute ; scales of the catkins very downy ; capsule 

 smooth or silky ; style as long as the stigmas. This species, which is the 

 *S'. lanceolata of Smith, is also sometimes called the Wavy -leaved Willow. It 

 grows near Lewes, in Sussex, but is not a native plant. It is a small bushy 

 tree, rarely more than ten feet high, with brown, smooth, round branches, 

 and beautiful silky catkins about an inch long, which appear in March and 

 April, the young leaves being almost as silky as the catkins. It is cultivated 

 for the coarser kind of basket-work, such as crates and hampers. 



Group III. Pentandr^. — Borr. 



Stamens usually more than 3 in a flower, mostly 5, very long ; capsules 

 stalked ; catkins lax, appearing with the leaves ; leaves large, serrated, 

 having glands in their serratures, from which a resin exudes. 



111.— 20 



