234 ENGLISH BOTANY. 



densely pilose. Stamens 2 ; filaments fi*ee, glabrons. Capsule subulate- 

 conical, grey, silky-tomentose, on a stalk four to eight times as long 

 as the nectary ; style scarcely any ; stigmas short, ovate, entire, or 

 2-cleft. Branches of the year finely pubescent, buds glabrous or sub- 

 glabrous ; leaves softly pubescent on both sides when young. 



Var. a, genuina. 

 Plate MCCCXXXI. 

 S. Caprea, Sm. Engl. Bot. ed. i. No. 1488, Engl. Fl. Vol. IV. p. 225. 



Leaves undulated and crenate-serrate. Stipules conspicuous. 



Var. 3, sphacelata. 



Plate MCCCXXXII. 



S. sphacelata, 8m.. Engl. Bot. ed. i. No. 2B33, Engl. Fl. Vol. IV. p. 224. 

 S. Silesiaca, Willd. var. ft (?). Wimm. Sal. Europ. p. 62. 



"Leaves entire" (Smith), discoloured at the point. Stipules often 

 absent. Whole plant much smaller than in var. a. 



In woods, pastures, hedgerows, &c. Very common, and generally 

 distributed. Var. 3 at Fionlarig, near head of Loch Tay, Perthshire, 

 (Rev. Dr. Stewart); and in valleys among the Highlands of Scotland 

 (Lightfoot). 



England, Scotland, Ireland. Tree or shrub. Early Spring. 



A tree, when left to itself, attaining the height of 20 to 30 feet, ^vith 

 the leaves, when full-grown, 2 to 5 inches long, less narrowed towards 

 the base than in S. cinerea or S. aurita, more softly downy on both 

 sides when young, and permanently so beneath, and the pubescence 

 beneath has a greater tendency to become slightly silky than in the two 

 preceding. JVIale catkins 1 to 1^ inch long, thicker than in any of 

 the preceding species. Female at first about the size of the male, but 

 at length attaining to 1^ to 3 inches. Capsules about ^ inch long. 

 Catkin-scales fuscous at the apex as in the other species in this section. 



This is one of the earliest flowering of the genus. Some of the forms 

 approximate closely to those of S. cinerea, but that is a smaller shrub, 

 with more rigid leaves, which are more attenuated at the base, duller 

 green above, and with the veins more prominent beneath, and often 

 dull orange. In S. cinerea the catkins are smaller; the anthers deeper 

 yellow ; the capsules smaller and more acute, and the young branches 

 and even the buds more pubescent, the latter shorter. 



S. aurita differs from S. caprea in its more ovate and rugose leaves, 

 and much smaller catkins and capsules, which are always nearly white, 

 not grey. 



Specimens of S. spacelata show it to be only a small state of S. 



