CATKIN-BEARING TRIBE 1(39 



catkins long ; style cloven to the middle or below it, as long as the stigmas. 

 This Willow, which is the *S'. rcfika or the *S'. la;vis of some writers, is a low 

 shrubby plant of the Scottish Highlands, its short round downy branches 

 being of a greenish hue. Mr. Forbes describes its leaves as from one inch 

 to an inch and a half long and upwards of an inch broad, hollowed out, or 

 somewhat heart-shaped at the base, serrated, bright green, shining, and 

 always perfectly smooth. It bears its large long catkins in June. It has for 

 many years been cultivated in gardens, where it is a very ornamental shrub. 



Group XIV. Herbace.e. — Burr. 



Stamens 2 ; ovaries shortly stalked ; style as long as the stigma ; catkins 

 appearing with the full-grown leaves, terminal, few-flowered ; leaves roundish, 

 serrated, with prominent veins, smooth but not glaucous. Dwarf alpine 

 prostrate shrubs, the stems creeping below the surface. 



35. Least Willow (»S'. herbdcea). — Leaves roundish, serrated, smooth, 

 shining, veined; ovaries smooth. This little plant is interesting for its 

 beauty, as well as because it is the smallest, not only of its tribe, but of all 

 our native trees. It grows on Snowdon and other Welsh mountains, being 

 abundant on those of the Highlands of Scotland, and is found in many parts 

 of Europe and North America. In Great Britain, it is the last plant with a 

 woody stem which greets the traveller who ascends mountains, and few of 

 our heights of eight or nine hundred yards' elevation are without it. It is 

 usually about four inches high ; but as Sir W. J. Hooker remarks, it is not 

 quite so siiiall as is usually supposed, for its stems divide, and creep below 

 the surface of the earth. As Dr. E. D. Clarke said of it, it is a perfect tree 

 in miniature ; and root, trunk, and branches may all be laid between the 

 leaves of a pocket-book. M. De Candolle observes that, in Switzerland, 

 " Some species of Willow spread over the imeven surface of the soil ; and 

 as their branches are often covered with the earth which the heavy rains 

 wash over them, they present the singular phenomenon of trees which are 

 more or less subterranean. The extremities of these branches form some- 

 times a kind of turf ; and the astonished traveller finds himself, as we may 

 say, walking on the top of a tree." It is the aS'. herbdcea which most frequently 

 presents this appearance, as it often grows on steep slopes of loose soil, which 

 are readily penetrated by the melting snow and rain. This Willow is used ^ 

 by the Laplanders in tanning leather. 



Group XV. HASTAT.E —Borr. 



Stamens mostly 2 ; anthers permanently yellow ; ovaries smooth : style 

 long ; stigmas entire or 2-cleft ; catkins appearing before the leaves, sessile, 

 terminal and lateral, large, blunt, Avith very shaggy and silky scales ; leaves 

 large, glaucous beneath; stipules large on the autumnal shoots. Shrubs, 

 with numerous irregular, crooked branches, and hairy young shoots. 



36. Apple-leaved Willow {S. hasfafa). —heaves egg-shaped, acute, 

 serrated, Ava\ed, crackling, smooth, heart-shaped at the base, glaucous beneath ; 

 stipules une(|uully heart-shaped, longer than the Inuad footstalks ; catkins 

 very woolly; ovaries distinctly stalked. Although this Willow is usually 

 classed with the British species, yet it can hardly be considered as even 



III. — 22 



