AMENTIFERiE. 227 



nonfoliaceous bracts at the base, ovate-oblong; the female ' catkins 

 short, cylindrical, thick, dense, shortly stalked, with small foliaceous 

 bracts at the base. Catkin-scales oblong-oblanceolate, pilose, brown 

 at the apex. Stamens 2 ; filaments free, glabrous, " a little pilose at 

 the base." (Wimmer.) Capsule ovate-conical, grey, silky-tomentose 

 on a stalk as long as or larger than the nectary; style commonly 

 as long as the stigmas; stigmas usually long, filiform or narrowly 

 oblong, entire or 2-cleft. Young branches and buds softly downy; 

 upper side of leaves at first downy, afterwards "glabrous or remaining 



1 . •'CD Q 



hairy. 



Var. a, genuina. 



Plate MCCCXXIV. 



Stipules small, lanceolate, not a quarter as long as petioles, unequal, 

 but scarcely half-cordate at the base. 



Var. 3, stipularis. 



S. stipularis (?) Anders, in Bot. Gaz. Vol. III. p. 58 (quoad Leefe, Sal. Brit. Nos. 25 

 and 26), non Sm. 



Stipules large, half as long as the petioles, half-cordate at the base. 



By the sides of rivers, and in meadows, osier grounds, and damp 

 woods. Rather common, and generally distributed, except in the 

 north of Scotland. Not unfrequent in Ireland. 



England, Scotland, Ireland. Shrub. Spring. 



A bushy shrub, with long round virgate reddish brittle branches, 

 the twigs of the year softly downy. Leaves shortly stalked, 3 to 6 

 inches long, variable in form, but usually inclining to lanceolate, and 

 tapermg more towards the apex than at the base when full-grown. 

 Stipules shorter than the leaf-stalks, more or less curved. Catkins 

 about 1 inch long, the female ones at length increasing to 1\ or 

 2 inches. Stalk of the ovary about as long as the scale, which is 

 oblong. Style variable in length, sometimes very short until after 

 flowerino;. 



The var. jS is often mistaken for S. stipularis, but that plant has the 

 leaves narrower and more parallel-sided, and the stipules are larger and 

 distinctly stalked. It has the female catkins also much longer. 



Silky -leaved Osier. 



German, Smith Weide. 



