158 AMENTACE^ 



boughs of ivy or holly, and are so conspicuous that few would pass them 

 unobserved. They retain this golden yellow tint throughout the year, 

 giving to this tree a marked peculiarity. The leaves, too, are sometimes of 

 golden hue, and the plant is, from its colour, known locally as the Yolk-of- 

 Egg-coloured Willow. It is often cultivated for the basket-maker in osier- 

 grounds, and also as an ornamental tree in gardens. It is in the hedges 

 usually but a shrub, but grows under culture to a tree sometimes thirty feet 

 high. Its catkins are long and tapering, and appear in May. 



Group V. Grise.^. — Borr. 



Stamens 2, distinct ; capsules silky, on long stalks ; catkins short, lax, on 

 lateral stalks, with sometimes a few bracts at their base, appearing before 

 the leaves ; leaves lanceolate, serrated, Avith small stipules. 



12. Dark Long-leaved WIUoaa; (»S'. petioldris). — Leaves, when young, 

 with long silky hairs ; capsules egg-shaped-lanceolate ; stigmas nearly sessile ; 

 scales shaggy, with black hairs. This is a bushy tree, found in the marshes 

 of Angusshire, and in a marsh near Grlasgow, and it has been introduced into 

 plantations. It is a common tree of North America, but not indigenous to 

 Britain. It is very unlike most Willows, having brown, smooth, purplish 

 branches, and dark, dull, greyish-green leaves. Its catkins, which appear in 

 April, are short and blunt. The plant seems to abound in tannin, and the 

 leaves have, Avhen gathered, a pleasant almond-like scent. 



Ch-oup VI. RosMARiNiFOLi^, FuscE, AND AMBiGUiE. — Borr. 



Stamens 2 ; capsules silky, stalked ; catkins sessile, short, and rather 

 compact, with bracts at the base ; leaves small or narrow, or with satiny 

 down. Small or trailing shrubs. 



13. Rosemary-leaved Willow (*S'. rosmarinifdlia). — Leaves linear- 

 lanceolate, pointed, especially silky while young, entire, or with few glandular 

 teeth ; catkins oblong, more lax when older ; stigmas entire or cleft ; scales 

 short, covered with shaggy down. This slender shrub, which is two or three 

 feet high, bears its short silky drooping catkins in April. The branches are 

 upright and round, and the young shoots very silky. The leaves are erect 

 and narrower than those of almost any other Willow, and are sometimes two 

 inches long. The down which, while they are young, covers the upper 

 surface, finally disappears, and the veining is clearly seen, but the foliage 

 always retains the silkiness on its glaucous under side. It is a doubtful 

 native, but is said to have been found by Sherard growing on Scottish bogs 

 at the beginning of last century. 



14. Little Tree Willow (S. angustifdlia). — Leaves linear-lanceolate, 

 nearly smooth, with minute glandular serratures, the young ones silky, 

 glaucous beneath ; catkins egg-shaped, erect ; style about as long as the 

 broad erect entire stigmas ; scales very downy at first. This is a little erect 

 slender shrub, about a foot high, with the leaves narrowing at both ends, and, 

 when young, quite grey with silky down. It is found in the Highlands of 

 Scotland, on the Clova Mountains, and also near Dumfries. It has been 

 thought to be the aS'. arhiiscula of Linnseus ; but the authors of the " British 



