AMENTIFERvE. 207 



bark. Only the male plant of it is now known in this country, although 

 Smith describes the female. It is not improbable that it only appears 

 when S. fragilis has its shoots cut annually for osiers. 



Var. a, Crack Willow. Yar. 3, White Welsh Willoiv. 



French, S aide fragile. German, Bruch Weide. 



TLis tree is tall and bushj-lieaded, growing from eighty to ninety feet high. The 

 branches are round and very smooth, and " so brittle at the base in spring, that with 

 the slightest blow they start from the trunk. Hence the name of " crack willow," 

 though, according to Sir J. E. Smith, this is more or less the case with other willows, 

 both native and exotic. It is also known as the " red wood willow," or " stao-'s head 

 osier." The heart wood is of a deep red colour, very tough, and not as soft as that 

 of most trees of the genus. It is very durable, both under water and when exposed 

 to the air, and makes good fences, posts, and handles for implements of husbandry. 

 When seasoned well it may be used in building houses, for planks, &c., and will last 

 well. Many medical properties were formerly attributed to this tree, which is gene- 

 rally distinguished, par excellence, as "the willow." The roots of the tree are used 

 in Sweden to boil with eggs to make them of a purple colour at Easter time. Gilpin 

 writes, " The withy, or Salix fragilis, is of little value in landscape, and yet there is 

 something beautiful in its silver catkins, which open, as the year advances, into 

 elegant hanging tufts, and when the tree is large and in full bloom, make a beautiful 

 variety among the early productions of the spring." The bark of S. fragilis and its 

 varieties contains a large quantity of tannin, and is probably little inferior to that of 

 the oak. The bark sold by druggists for medical purposes is collected indiscriminately 

 from this and other species. 



The variety /3 has highly polished and reddish brown branches, the young shoots 

 being sometimes almost crimson. 



SPECIES (?) IV.-S A LIX VI RID IS. Fries. 



Plate MCCCVIII. 



Reich. Ic. Fl. Germ, et Helv. Vol. XI. Tab. DCX. Fig. 1265 (?) 



Anders. Mon. Sal. p. 43. 



S. fragilis-alba, Wimm. Mon. Sal. p. 133. 



S. Russelliana, Sm. Engl. Bot. ed. i. No. 1808, Engl. Fl. Vol. IV. p. 186. Hook. 



Brit. Fl. ed. iv. p. 358. Lindl. Syn. Brit. Fl. p. 232. 

 S. alba, var. viridis, Wahl. Fl. Suec. ed. ii. p. 658. Anders. 

 S. fragilis, var. Russelliana, HooJc. & Am. Bi"it. Fl. ed. viii. p. 401. Bah. Man. Brit, 



Bot. ed. vi. p. 308. 



Twigs erect, not breaking off readily at their origin. Leaves nar- 

 rowly lanceolate-elliptical, attenuated at the base, longly acuminate at 

 the apex or equally attenuated at each end, glandular-serrate, shining 

 above, glabrous on both sides when mature. Stipules half-ovate, 

 deciduous, often absent. Catkins opening at the same time as the 

 leaf-buds expand, on short leafy lateral branches, spreading or recurved, 

 cylindrical, rather slender, rather dense in flower, but lax in fruit. 



