839 



botany of the larger section of the county I had no means of effecting. 

 I am convinced that hybridity is at the root of a vast deal of the dif- 

 ficulty and obscurity that envelope the study of the willows. The 

 peculiarly exposed position of the ovaries in the pistillate catkins, 

 the copiousness of the pollen in the staminate ones, and the facility 

 with which the fertilizing globules are conveyed by bees from the lat- 

 ter to the former, or wafted thither by the wind, are strong arguments 

 in favour of this hypothesis. In the subjoined list the range, fre- 

 quency and localities of the species are mostly omitted, to avoid giv- 

 ing erroneous information where my knowledge on these points is as 

 defective as that regarding the plants themselves. 



The beautiful and fragrant S. pentandra, mostly confined to the 

 north of England and Scotland, may nevertheless be found in Hants, 

 as Mr. Watson is disposed to hold it indigenous to Surrey, and per- 

 haps to Sussex and Devon. 



Salix decipiens. Near Fontley Iron mills (Fareham) ; Mr. W. L. 

 Notcutt ! 



fragilis. Wet meadows, banks of streams, &c. ; I believe 



frequent in the Isle of Wight. Some very large trees by a pool in a 

 pasture field near Nunwell answered to the description of S. Russel- 

 liana, but of this, having seen only staminate plants, I am not well 

 assured. Is it really distinct from S. fragilis ? 



alba. Very common in a planted state along ditches in moist 



meadows, &c. ; less so in its natural localities of wet woods, pastures 

 and sides of streams. A noble tree in many parts of the county and 

 island. 7. vitellina, S. vitellina, Auct. Anglican. Wet thickets, &c, 

 occasionally. Westridge, Ashey, Yaverland. Fontley (near Fare- 

 ham) ; Mr. W. L. Notcutt. 



triandra. In wet thickets, by stream-sides, &c. ; apparently 



native and not un frequent in several parts of the island ; more fre- 

 quently still in a planted condition. The staminate plant is far more 

 common here than the pistillate. 



undulata. Titchfield Bridge ; Mr. W. L. Notcutt ! 



S. Helix and purpurea most likely exist in the county, but I have 

 not seen any willow belonging to this section (purpurea?) wild in the 

 Isle of Wight. Mr. Notcutt in his list of plants of the neighbourhood 

 of Fareham (Phytol. ii. 212) gives S. rubra as growing at Titchfield 

 Common. 



viminalis. In low swampy woods and thickets ; not, I think, 



unfrequent in its wild state, though more usually seen in cultivation. 



■ Smithiana. Wet woods ; rare ? In a wet bushy part of the 



