Salix.] LXXI. SALICINEiE. 469 



tomentum of the smooth leaves and the long female catkins with slender 

 capsules. 



Afghanistan, Kashmir valley, common, also cultivated. In the plains near the 

 Chenab. Mahassu near Simla (7000-8000 ft.) Kamaon (2500-9000 ft.) Nepal 

 and Bhutan. Fl. March, April. Baskets are made of the branches, and twigs 

 are used as tooth-sticks. 



9. S. daphnoides, Vill. Tab. LXII.DC. Prodr. xvi. ii. 261 ; Hook. 

 Stud. Fl. 340. Syn. S. pomeranica, Willd., and pruinosa, Wendl. ; 

 Reich. Ic. Fl. Germ. t. 602, 603. Vern. Bed, bidai, betsu, bell, buslian, 

 bashal, mudanu, shun, thdil, Pb.; Yiir, Kashmir; Changma, clidmma, 

 malchang, kalchang, West Tibet. 



A tall shrub, sometimes a large tree, with glabrous shining yellowish 

 reddish-brown or nearly black branches, often covered with grey or glau- 

 cous bloom, easily rubbed off ; youngest shoots slightly pubescent ; buds 

 large, ovoid-lanceolate, downy. Leaves 3-5 in. long, linear- or elliptic- 

 lanceolate, glabrous, glaucous beneath, serrate ; lateral nerves numerous, 

 prominent. Flowers appearing before the leaves ; catkins densely silky, 

 sessile, scales fringed with long silky hairs, the upper half black. Male 

 catkins erect, cylindric, 1-1 J in. long; stamens 2, anthers oblong, yellow. 

 Female catkins cylindric, 2-4 in. long, nodding ; capsules glabrous, sub- 

 sessile, style long slender, stigmas 2, divergent, entire. The stipules of 

 the Indian and North Asiatic form (S. acutifolia, Willd.) are lanceolate, 

 of the European form they are semicordate. The leaves in the inner arid 

 Himalaya are linear-lanceolate, in the outer ranges they are broader, ellip- 

 tic-lanceolate. There is a variety with velvety branches and leaves. 



Common in the inner'arid Himalaya, ascending to 15,000 ft. Indus valley 

 near Iskardo (7000 ft.), Ladak, Lahoul, Dras, Shay ok, Nubra, Piti, Kunawar. 

 Frequently cultivated (to 14,000 ft. in Ladak). Outer ranges, descending to 2300 

 ft. (Stewart), Kashmir (Stewart), Mahassu ridge near Simla 8000 ft. (T. Thom- 

 son), Deoban range (D.B.), Kamaon, Betali Pass at 8700 ft. (Strachey & Winter- 

 bottom). Alps and mountains of Central Europe, descending into the plains 

 along the Rhine and other rivers ; coasts of the Baltic ; Russia, Siberia, 

 Amur. Introduced to England in 1820, and run wild in Yorkshire. Planted 

 largely, within the last 20 years, in North Germany, to fix the ground on 

 railway embankments and cuttings, and on dry sandhills, for which its strong, 

 long-spreading roots render it particularly suitable. Fl. March, April, later at 

 high elevations. 



Attains 60 ft. with a straight erect trunk, 6-7 and at times 9-12 ft. girth, 

 branchlets at times pendulous. In Ladak at 15,000 ft. it is a small tree 15 ft. 

 high and 3 ft. girth. Round gall-like knots are not uncommon on the branches. 

 Bark usually light grey, in old trees and at great elevations often nearly black 

 and rough with furrows. This species (according to Stewart) is much grown in 

 Lahoul between 8500 and 11,000 ft., from cuttings 9-12 in. long, generally near 

 w r ater ; it thrives best in light soil, where it sends down long roots. Three trees 

 are usually planted together, and they are often bound round with cloth or 

 branches to protect them against cattle. The twigs are used for baskets and 

 wattles in the N.W. Himalaya. In Ladak the houses are built of willow wattle 

 and daub. Twig bridges of willow branches are found in Piti, Zanskar, and 

 Ladak. The wood of this and of the other species cultivated in the arid forest- 

 less inner valleys is used for building, pails, tubs, and tools. But the principal 



