412 THE CATKIN FAMILY. [Salix. 



sinites. Young shoots and leaves often downy, when old usually 

 glabrous. Leaves ovate-oblong or rarely lanceolate, usually 1 to 2 

 inches long, and pointed, not wrinkled, but the veins rather prominent 

 above, often toothed at the edge, and glaucous or whitish underneath, 

 but not closely silky. Catkins more slender and less silky than in S. 

 Caprea, the males nearly sessile, with a few broad, or sometimes leafy, 

 bracts at the base ; the females more stalked, with the bracts more 

 leafy, usually under an inch long when in flower, 1 to 2 inches when 

 in fruit. Capsules shortly stalked, glabrous or silky or cottony, 2 to 3 

 lines long when ripe. 



In woods, thickets, and waste places, near streams, in northern and 

 Arctic Europe and Asia, and in the mountain districts of central and 

 southern Europe. In Britain, chiefly in northern England, in Scotland, 

 and northern Ireland. Fl. spring and early summer. Among the numer- 

 ous varieties published as species, often from specimens altered by 

 cultivation, two are generally recognised as distinct types, S. nigricans, 

 Sm., which turns black in drying and is usually larger, and S. phylici- 

 folia, which preserves its colour better and has usually a smaller and 

 neater foliage. 



10. S. repens, Linn. (fig. 927). Creeping. A low straggling shrub ; 

 the stems creeping extensively underground and rooting at the base, 

 ascending to the height of about a foot or more, erect and taller when 

 cultivated in rich soils ; the foliage and young shoots more or less 

 densely silky- white. Leaves oblong or lanceolate, under an inch long, 

 rarely shortly ovate, or in luxuriant shoots narrow- oblong, and 1^ inches 

 long, usually entire or nearly so, and silky on both sides: Catkins 

 cylindrical, usually about 6 lines long, and sessile when in flower, with a 

 few leafy bracts at the base ; when in fruit the peduncle lengthens, and 

 the catkin often attains an inch. Capsules pedicellate, usually silky, 

 seldom 2 lines long. 



On heaths, moors, and sandy places, in Arctic, northern, and central 

 Europe, and Kussian Asia, more rare in southern Europe. Common in 

 Britain. Fl. spring. Varieties rather less creeping, with the leaves some- 

 what wrinkled, and the white down rather more cottony, distinguished 

 under the name of S. ambigua, Ehrh., showing in some respects a con- 

 nection between S. aurita and S. repens, are asserted by German botanists 

 to be accidental hybrids between those two species. 



11. S. lapponum, Linn. (fig. 928). Downy W.A. spreading, much 

 branched shrub, usually low and scrubby, sometimes attaining 2 or 3 

 feet or more in rich valleys. Leaves oblong or lanceolate, pointed, and 

 entire, covered on both sides with a white cottony down, or, when old, 

 becoming nearly glabrous above. Catkins closely sessile, with a few 

 deciduous bracts at their base ; when in flower about an inch long, thick, 

 with long dense silky haks ; when in fruit lengthening to 1 or 2 inches. 

 Capsules sessile, cottony, about 2 lines long. 



In mountains, pastures, and wet, bushy places, in northern and Arctic 

 Europe, and Asia, and in the mountains of central Europe. In Britain, 

 only in the mountains of Scotland. M. summer. It varies much in sta- 

 ture and the size of the leaves, but is always distinguished from S. repens 

 by the stem not creeping underground, and the much larger catkins, 

 more like those of S.. Caprea, and from the latter species by the 

 leaves and sessile capsules, 



