56 SALICACEAE 



puberulent or glabrous and small, l/^ to three-sixteenths inch 

 long. 



Numerous catkins appear in the spring before the leaves. 

 They are sessile or very nearly so and are either destitute of 

 bracts or have only 2 or 3 small bracts on their very short 

 peduncles. The staminate catkins are ovoid to oblong and ^ 

 to ^ inch long, and the pistillate catkins are I/2 to 1 inch long 

 in flower and up to I14 inches long in fruit, w^hen they are 

 narrow and cylindrical. The catkin scales are obtuse, ovate, 

 dark brown, and covered by long hairs. Staminate flowers bear 

 2 stamens, the filaments of which are free and glabrous, and 

 pistillate flowers have very short, though frequently divided, 

 styles, which are capped by very short, notched stigmas. The 

 capsules when mature are blunt, ovoid to oblong, silvery pu- 

 bescent, and 1/^ to three-sixteenths inch long. They stand on 

 a distinct pedicel which may be as much as one-sixteenth inch 

 long. 



Distribution. — The Silky Willow prefers moist and boggy 

 situations and grows in such places from New Brunswick west- 

 ward into Michigan and south into South Carolina and south- 

 eastern Missouri. In Illinois, it should be found in suitable 

 situations throughout the state, but thus far its occurrence has 

 been established only near Lake Michigan and in the Wabash 

 valley. 



SALIX SUBSERICEA (Andersson) Schneider 



This willow, fig. 7, too little known to have a common name, 

 is a large, widely branching shrub that attains 8 or 10 feet of 

 height in the best specimens. Generally it is considerably smaller 

 and is similar in many ways to S. petiolaris. Its narrowly lance- 

 olate to oblanceolate leaves, which are i/^ to 2 inches long by 

 14 to J/2 inch wide, stand on petioles less than 14 irich long. 

 The leaf margins are serrate to entire and slightly revolute. 

 Young leaves are finely hairy, both above and below, and the 

 hairs are silvery or often distinctly tawny. Eventually they 

 become glabrous. The slender, glabrous branches are reddish 

 to purple and provided with fine, longitudinal ridges. They are 

 at first hairy like the leaves and after the first year bear dis- 

 tinctly raised leaf-scars ^ to 1/^ inch apart. The ovate, pointed 

 buds, which are appressed or, less often, a little divergent, are 



