414 salicace^. (willow family.) 



npper side becoming nearly smooth at maturity ; stipules minute, hairy, very early 

 deciduous; catkins globular when young, loosely -flowered ; ovary with a long tapering 

 beak, clothed with silvery hairs; style short; stigmas 2-lobed. — New England to 

 Wisconsin, and southward. — Shrub 1°-1^° high, much branched: leaves 

 thick, lj' long. Stipules seldom seen, often reduced to a mere gland. A vari- 

 ety occurs with very small and rigid contorted leaves. 



3. S. iauisiilis, Marshall. (Low Bush Willow.) Leaves petioled, lan- 

 ceolate or obovatc-lanceolate, acute or obtuse with an abrupt point, slightly 

 downy above, more thickly so, or sometimes grayish-woolly, beneath ; stipules 

 small, semi-ovate and entire, or larger and lunar with 2-4 teeth, shorter than the peti- 

 oles ; catkins often recurved ; ovary hairy; style distinct; stigmas 2-cleft. (S. 

 Muhlenbergiana, Barratt. S. conifera, Muhl.) — Borders of fields and road- 

 sides; common. — Shrub 3° -8° high, varying much in size and appearance. 

 The small forms are at times scarcely distinguishable from No. 2, but the leaves 

 are longer, less firm in texture, and generally stipulate ; the larger forms, with 

 leaves 3' -5' long and |'-1' broad, resemble those of the two next species, but 

 retain more or less down on the under surface at maturity. — The species of this 

 and the following section often bear cone-like excrescences on the ends of the 

 branches, formed of closely imbricated leaves, probably occasioned by the punc- 

 ture of insects. 



•*- ■*- Catkins cylindrical, large, clothed with long glossy hairs : leaves more or less 

 serrate, smooth and shining above, glaucous beneath and at length smooth. — Shrubs 

 or small trees. 



4. S. discolor, Muhl. (Glaucous Willow.) Leaves lanceolate or 

 ovate-lanceolate, acute, irregularly toothed on the sides, entire at the base and 

 apex; stipules semilunar, toothed; catkins erect; scales very hairy, oblanceolate, 

 somewhat acute; ovary densely silky. (S. sensitiva, Barratt?) — Low meadows 

 and river-banks ; common. — A large shrub or small tree, 8° - 15° high. The 

 young leaves arc commonly obtuse and pubescent, at length becoming smooth 

 and whitish-glaucous beneath. Stipules in the vigorous shoots equalling the 

 petiole, more often small and inconspicuous. Young catkins lh' long, glossy, 

 blackish with the conspicuous scales, elongating in fruit to 2i'. 



5. S. criocepliala, Michx. (Silky-headed Willow.) Leaves ob- 

 long-oval, acute, rounded or tapering at base, sparingly and irregularly toothed ; 

 Stipules semilunar, toothed ; catkins densely flowered, thickly covered with long shin- 

 ing hairs ; scabs of the sterile ones round-obovate, obtuse ; ovary conspicuously stalked, 

 downy. ( S. prinoides, Pursh ? S. cr.issa, Barratt.) — Low meadows and swamps. 

 — Closely resembles the last; but the aments are more compact and silky, and 

 the scales rounder. 



# * Ovary stalked, silky-gray, shining : catkins ovoid or cylindrical, with a few small 

 leaf-like bracts at the base : leaves finely and evenly serrate, silky-gray or glaucous 

 beneath, drying black : stipules varying from linear to semilunar, toothed, very decid- 

 uous. — Shrubs. 



6. S. sericea, Marshall. (Silky-leaved Willow.) Leaves lanceolate, 

 pointed, down v above, grayish underneath with short silky hairs; sterile catkins 

 small ; the fertile narroivly cylindrical, closely flowered ; scales obtuse, round-obo- 



