SALTCACE^;. (WILLOW FAMILY.) 453 



or leafy and persistent. Buds covered with a single scale. Ameuts mostly 

 erect, appearing with or before the leaves. 



* Ameuts small, sessile : ovary silky: stamens 2. Low canescent shrubs, with 



small leaves. Antents developed before the leaves. 



1. S. tristis, Ait. Leaves very numerous, lanceolate, obtuse or acute, 

 entire or wavy, at least on the margins, tapering at the base, nearly sessile, 

 covered with a grayish down, at length smoothish above ; stipules minute, 

 caducous; flowering ameiits small, globular; the oval bracts hairy on the 

 margins ; style short ; ovary slender, long-beaked. Dry barren soil in the 

 upper districts. March- April. Shrub 1- 2 high. Leaves l'-2' long. 



2. S. humilis, Marshall. Leaves lanceolate, obtuse or abruptly pointed, 

 narrowed into a petiole, smoothish above, grayish-pubescent beneath, often 

 slightly serrate near the summit ; stipules small, semi-cordate or lunate, en- 

 tire or toothed ; flowering ameuts ovoid or oblong, often drooping, with the 

 lanceolate bracts villons ; style conspicuous; ovary slender. Barren soil, in 

 the upper districts. March. Shrub 2 -4 high, often bearing cone-like 

 excrescences. 



* * Aments large, cylindrical, sessile, silky-villous, developed before the leaves: 



ovaries woolly. Large shrubs. 



3. S. discolor, Muhl. Branchlets pubescent ; leaves oblong, petioled, 

 acute at each end, serrate in the middle, smooth and shining above, glaucous 

 beneath ; stipules semi-lunar, toothed ; aments woolly, with glossy hairs ; sta- 

 mens 2; ovary white-silky, sessile. Low ground, Carolina (Pursh), and 

 northward. April. Shrub 8 - 10 high. Leaves 2' -4' long. Aments 1'- 

 1 1' long. 



* * * Aments large, cylindrical, on leafy peduncles or branchlets, appearing 



ivith the leaves : ovaries smooth, stalked. 



4. S. Floridana, Chapm. Leaves ovate-lanceolate, acute, smooth above, 

 glaucous beneath, finely serrate, rounded at the base, the petioles pubescent ; 

 stipules small, caducous ; fruiting ament oblong, dense ; capsule ovate-lanceo- 

 late, smooth. Rocky banks, West Florida, fruiting in April. Shrub 8- 12 

 high. Leaves thin, 2' -3' long, Fruiting aments 2' -3' long, 1' in diameter, 

 enveloped in the copious wool of the seeds. Flowers not seen. 



5. S. nigra, Marshall, Leaves lanceolate, acute at each end, serrate, 

 petioled, pubescent when young, becoming smoothish and green on both 

 surfaces ; stipules small and caducous, or sometimes lunate, toothed, and per- 

 sistent ; aments elongated, the fertile ones slender, loose-flowered ; bracts de- 

 ciduous ; stamens 3-6, hairy below; capsule ovate, acuminate, pointed by the 

 (..nsjiiruous style. Swamps and muddy banks of rivers. A shrub or small 

 tree, with brittle branches. Leaves 2' -3' long, sometimes pubescent at ma- 

 turity, like the branchlets. Fertile aments 3' -4' long. 



6. S. fragilis, L. Leaves broadly lanceolate, acuminate, finely serrate, 

 white silky when young, glaucous beneath ; aments long, cylindrical ; bracts 

 hairv; stamens mostly 2; capsule short-pedicelled. Tennessee, and north- 

 ward. A small tree. 



