THE WEEPING WILLOW 147 



and stigmas not only forked but recurved. The 

 Crack Willows, on the other hand, have good-sized 

 " semi - cordate " stipules, stalked capsules, and 

 merely forked stigmas. 



The species in the last-mentioned group are dis- 

 tinguished from one another by the colour of the young 

 shoots and the forms of the leaves. The shoots of the 

 Weeping Willow are pale green, very slender, and 

 with a slight twist at the point of origin of each leaf, 

 being, of course, also distinguished by their droop- 

 ing habit of growth. The leaves are technically 

 termed " lanceolate - acuminate," being some five 

 inches long and only an inch across, tapering to a 

 point, with a finely serrated edge, smooth above, and 

 with a grey bloom on their under surfaces. The 

 leaf-stalk is short and hairy on its upper surface and 

 has at its base two minute, lanceolate, finely serrated 

 stipules, which, however, fall off early. The veining 

 of the leaf is practically identical with that of the 

 Crack Willow (S. fragilis L.). From the midrib, the 

 one prominent vein, a number of fine secondary veins 

 proceed pinnately, alternately from either side, and 

 sometimes reaching as many as twenty on each side, 

 at acute angles of about 45, towards the edge of the 

 leaf, and with a slight curve. Before reaching it, 

 however, they break up into branches, and between 

 them is an intricate and very fine polygonal mesh work 

 of tertiary veins. Rapid as is the ascending transpir- 

 ation current in Willows, and large as is the volume 

 of moisture given off, it passes .almost entirely through 

 the under surfaces of the leaves, there being very few 

 "stoinata" or transpiration-pores, on their upper sur- 



