342 SALICINE& [Sxux. 



N. Europe to the Arctic circle, Siberia, Dahuria, Soongaria, Greenland. 

 Intermediate between <S>. phylicifolia and Myrsinita. 



The British forma are : <S. carina'la, Sm.; suberect, leaves folded and recurved. 

 <S. pruni/o'lia, Sm. ; decumbent or ascending, leaves flat. S. <</'/</./, 

 Sm. ; decumbent, leaves reticulate on both surfaces. A vacciniifo'lia, 

 Walker (livida, Sm. not Wahl) ; decumbent, leaves silky beneath. 

 **** Capsule sessile or subsessile. Style stiort or 0. 



15. S. herba'cea; L. ; very dwarf, stems buried, leaves oblong or 

 orbicular obtuse or retuse shining reticulate serrate, catkins on 2-leaved 

 peduncles oblong few-flowered, scales concave glabrous or pubescent. 

 Tops of the loftiest Welsh and N. English Mts., common on the Scotch Alps, 



ascending to 4,300 ft.; local in Ireland ; fl. June. A very small straggling 

 shrub; stem and branches spreading horizontally under the turf, sending up 

 short flowering few-leaved twigs ; bud-scales persistent, brown. Learnt 

 i-i in., shortly petioled, curled ; stipules minute ovate or 0. Catkins J- in., 

 flowering after the leaves, 4-10-flowered, subterminal, shortly peduncled ; 

 scales obovate, obtuse ; anthers yellow-brown or purple. Capsule rarely 

 pubescent, subsessile ; style rather short. DISTRIB. Arctic and Alpine 

 Europe, Siberia, Dahuria, N. America. The smallest British shrub. 



16. S. reticula'ta, L. ; dwarf, depressed, stems buried, leaves orbicular- 

 oblong or obovate strongly reticulate on both surfaces green above glaucous 

 beneath, catkins on very long leafy peduncles, style very short. 



Lofty Mts. of Breadalbane, Clova, Braemar, and Sutherland ; ascending to 

 3,200 ft.; fl. July-Aug. Stem 1-2 ft., procumbent, short, woody ; branches 

 tortuous, sparingly leafy. Leaves sometimes cuneate, obtuse or retuse, 

 margin entire or waved, young pilose, older glabrous and rugose above, 

 usually hoary beneath, stipules 0. Catkins J-l in. , subterminal, flowering 

 after the leaves, many-flowered, oblong ; scales obovate, purplish or yellow, 

 of one colour ; anthers purplish ; disk a laciniate cup. Capsule sessile, hoary, 

 obtuse; stigmas notched. DISTRIB. As S. herbacea, reaching the limits of 

 Arctic vegetation. 



SECTION 3. Synan'dree, Anderss. Catkins appearing before the leaves, 

 on short bracteate or leafy peduncles ; scales tipped with dark colour. 

 Stamens 2, filaments more or less combined. 



17. S. purpu'rea, L. ; shrubby, leaves often opposite thin linear- 

 lanceolate serrulate glabrous, stipules 4-ovate or 0, catkins subsessile, scales 

 small, capsule subsessile, style very short. Purple Osier. 



River-banks and osier-beds, from Perth and Isla southwards ; doubtfully indi- 

 genous in Ireland ; fl. March-April. An erect or decumbent shrub, 5-10 ft. ; 

 twigs slender, tough ; bark red or purple. Leaves 3-6 in., sparingly hairy 

 when young, shortly petioled, broadest about or beyond the middle, glau- 

 cous but most so beneath, black in drying. Catkins f-l in., opposite or 

 alternate, erect, then spreading or recurved, cylindric ; scales purple-black 

 above, hairy or woolly ; filaments hairy at the base ; anthers red, then 

 black. Capsule broadly ovoid, obtuse ; stigmas entire or cleft. DISTRIB. 

 Europe, N. Africa, Siberia, W. Asia to India ; introd. in N. America. 

 Bark very bitter ; used for basket-making, but not so commonly as S. 

 viminalii. The best- marked British varieties are 1, Wooloana'na, Borr. 

 (sp.,) and ramulo'sa, Borr. ; erect, branches yellowish, stigmas notched. 



