38 



mm. ( l /-}/2 inch) wide, often falcate (scythe-shaped) , the so-called 

 variety falcata), finely serrate, green on both sides, shining above, 

 paler and dull beneath, glabrous or sometimes pubescent beneath on 

 midrib and larger veins; flowers appearing with the leaves in late April 

 in the southern part of the State and well into May in the northern 

 part; catkins slender, 2-5 or 6 cm. (4/5-2 or 2 }/ inches) long, the 

 staminate bright yellow; capsules 3-5 mm. (i^ inch) long, ovoid or 

 ovoid-lanceolate, on pedicels 1-2 mm. (1/16 inch) long. 



Distribution. New Brunswick and New England, westward to the 

 eastern part of the Great Plains area from North Dakota to Texas, 

 and, in some forms, westward across that State and into Mexico. It is 

 interesting that this species, the first willow published in America, in 

 the first book on American Botany ever published in this country, 

 should be abundantly and widely distributed in the United States. 



Specimens have been seen from the following counties in Indiana : 

 Allen (Beam); Bartholomew (Deam); Clark (Beam); Crawford 

 (Beam); Bearborn (Beam); Bubois (Beam); Becatur (Beam); Floyd 

 (Beam); Fulton (Beam); Harrison (Beam); Hendricks (Beam); 

 Henry (Beam); Jackson (Beam); Jay (Beam); Jennings (Beam); 

 Knox (Beam); Kosciusko (Beam); Lagrange (Beam); Marion (Mrs. 

 Chas. C. Beam); Marshall (Beam); Miami (Beam); Morgan (Beam); 

 Noble (Beam); Ohio (Beam); Parke (Beam); Perry (Beam); Porter 

 (Beam); Posey (Beam); Pulaski (Beam); Ripley (Beam); Steuben 

 (Beam; Sullivan (Beam); Tippecanoe (Beam); Vermillion (Beam); 

 Wabash (Beam); Warrick (Beam); White (Beam). 



Economic Uses. The black willow is used very extensively along 

 the lower reaches of the Mississippi River in making matresses which 

 protect the levees from washing. In 1912, it was estimated that 150,000 

 cords were used annually. 



2. Salix amygdaloides Andersson. WILLOW. PEACH-LEAVED WIL- 

 LOW. Plate 11. Trees 3-12 m. (10-40 feet) high, yellowish-green in 

 mass color; bark of trunk fissured, dark brown or reddish-brown; twigs 

 longer and less brittle than those of Salix nigra, yellowish to reddish- 

 brown, usually somewhat drooping, giving a "weeping" effect, which, 

 with the color, makes the species easily recognizable from a distance; 

 buds ovoid, about 3 mm. (% inch) long, colored as the twigs; petioles 

 long, slender, twisted, 5-15 or 20 mm. (34-4/5 inch) long; leaves lance- 

 olate to broadly lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, rounded or somewhat 

 acute at base, long-pointed at apex, closely serrulate, 5-12 cm. (2-5 

 inches) long, 1.5-3 cm. (3/5-1 % inches) wide, yellowish-green above, 

 glaucous beneath, glabrous; flowers appear from late April throughout 

 May, usually later than those of Salix nigra; catkins slender, 3-5 cm. 



