CHAP. CIII. - SALICA‘CE, SA LIX. 1517 
this tree; but Sir J. E. Smith (in his Eng. FU, vol. iv. p. 186.) says that 
they belong, probably, to S. Russellidna. The roots, however, of S. fragilis 
are used, in Sweden, to boil with eggs, to make them of a purple colour, at 
Easter ; it being the custom there, as in many other countries, to make 
presents of coloured eggs at that festival. A similar custom is said to have 
prevailed anciently in Scotland. ‘“ The withy, or Salix fragilis,” says 
Gilpin, “is of little value in landscape; and yet there is something beautiful 
in its silver-coated 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.” (Gilp. For. Scen.) For 
the properties and uses of this species as a timber tree, see p. 1460. 
Statistics. In the environs of London, on the banks of the Thames, near Brentford, 50 ft. high. 
In Suffolk, at the bottom of the old Bury Botanic Garden, on the authority of Mr. Turner, the curator 
of the new Botanic Garden at Bury, there was “‘a noble tree, 90 ft. high; the diameter of the trunk 
74 ft., and of the head 54ft. A ees of this tree was lithographed by Mr. Strutt.’’ This tree, 
which grew on the banks of the Lark, was blown down during the hurricane of November 29th, 1836. 
In Ireland, in the county Down, at Mount Stewart, 50 years planted, it is 57 ft. high ; the diameter 
of the trunk 32 ft., and of the head 27 ft. In Russia, at Petersburg, in the garden of the Taurida 
Palace, 49 ft. high; the circumference of the trunk 10} ft., and of the head 49ft. There are plants 
in the Hackney arboretum, and at Woburn Abbey, Flitwick House, Henfield, the Botanic Garden 
at Twickenham, and various other places. 
% & 23, S. monNSPELIE’NSIS Forbes. The Montpelier Willow. 
Identification. Forbes in Sal. Wob., No. 30. 
Synonyme. ? 5S. fragilis var. (Borrer ina letter.) 
The Sexes. The male is figured in Sal. Wob. 
Engravings. Sal. Wob., No. 30.; and fig. 30. in p. 1609. 
' Spec. Char., §c. Leaves elliptic-lanceolate, pointed, glabrous; green, shining 
above; pale, and somewhat glaucous beneath ; margins strongly serrated, 
glandular. Stipules ovate-lanceolate, deeply serrated. Catkins about 
2in. long. Stamens 2. Bractea oblong, fringed. (Sal. Wob., p.59.) 
A native of Montpelier, in France. Introduced into England about 
1825, or before, and flowering in the salictum at Woburn Abbey in 
April and May. It forms a small tree, 10ft. or 12 ft. high, with round, 
smooth, tough branches, forming a bushy head; the young twigs pale 
yellow, but becoming of a brownish green colour at the base, like the pre- 
ceding year’s shoots. The leaves are from 4 in. to 6in. long. There are 
plants in the Hackney arboretum, and at Woburn Abbey, Henfield, and 
Flitwick House. 
¥ 24. S. RussELLI4A‘NA Smith. The Russell, or Duke of Bedford’s, Willow. 
Identification. Smith Fl. Br., p. 1045.; Willd. Sp. Pl., 4. p. 656.; Koch Comm., p. 15., at least 
in part; Smith Eng. Bot., t. 1801.; Eng. Fl., 4. p. 186.; Forbes in Sal. Wob., No. 28.; Hook. Br. 
Fl, ed. 3., p. 422.; Mackay Fl, Hibern., pt. 1. p. 246. 
Synonymes. ?S. fragilis Woodv., and other medical writers; the Dishley, or Leicestershire, Willow : 
in some counties, the Huntingdon Willow. Koch has deemed identical with this the followipg : — 
' §. péndula Ser. Sal. Helv., p. 79., from specimens from Seringe; S. viridis Fries Nov., p. 120. ; S. 
ribens Schrank Baier. Fl., 1. 226, 
The Sexes. The female is figured in Eng. Bot. and Sal.Wob. Smith, in the Eng. F/., states that he 
had not seen the flowers of the male. Dr. Johnston, in his Flora of Berwick 5 oh Tweed, states, 
that a male tree, which he has deemed of this species, is in ‘* New-water-haugh Plantation,” 
Engravings. Eng. Bot., t. 1808.; Sal. Wob., No. 28., and the frontispiece; our jig. 1311.; and 
. 28, in p. 1608. 
Spec. Char. §c. Leaves lanceolate, tapering at each end, serrated throughout, 
very glabrous. Footstalks glandular or leafy. Ovary tapering, stalked, 
longer than the bracteas. Style as long as the stigmas. (Smith E. F.) 
Smith states that he had not seen the flowers of the male of this kind; 
and this sex is not farther noticed in Sal. Wob. Dr. Johnston, in his Flora 
of Berwick upon Tweed, has noticed the existence of a male tree of what 
he deems this species within the province of his Flora ; and has given the 
following botanical description of it :—‘“‘ The male tree is very rare ; and, if 
- we are correct in our determination of it, the figure in Withering is not good. 
Its catkins are 2 in. long, cylindrical, and yellow. Stamens 2. Filaments 
not much longer than the pointed, more or less villous, bracteas. The 
catkins stand on short leafy branchlets ; and the young leaves are entire, 
lin. to 2in. long, but not otherwise different from the adult ones. Catkins 
