SALICACE^E. (WILLOW FAMILY.) 481 



often downy when young, at length green and glabrous except the petiole and 

 midrib; stipules large, semicordate, pointed and persistent, or small, ovoid 

 and deciduous; fruiting aments (l-3' long) more or less dense; capsules 

 ovate conical, shortly pedicelled. Banks of streams and lakes, bending over 

 the water; common. Var. FALCATA, Torr. Leaves narrower and scythe- 

 shaped. Var. WARDI, Bebb. Leaves broader, often V wide, glaucous and 

 veined beneath; stipules large, round-renif orm ; aments long, loosely flow- 

 ered ; capsules globose-conical, long-pedicelled. Rocky islands of the Potomac 

 ( Ward) ; Falls of the Ohio (Short) ; Mo. The leaves alone are easily mis- 

 taken for those of n. 14. A hybrid of this species with S. alba, var. vitellina, 

 is found in Wayne Co., N. Y. (E. L. Hankenson). 



2. S. amygdaloides, Anders. Leaves lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate , 2-4' 

 long, attenuate-cuspidate, pale or glaucous beneath ; petioles long and slender ; 

 stipules minute, very early deciduous ; fertile aments becoming very loose in 

 fruit from the lengthening of the slender pedicels. Central N. Y. (Dudley) 

 to Mo. ; common westward. 



** -w- A shrub or small bushy tree, 6-15 high, with smooth bark and rather stout 

 polished twigs ; petioles glandular ; sterile aments thick, oblong-cylindrical, 

 densely flowered ; stamens commonly 5 ; scales dentate t hairy at base, smooth 

 above. 



3. S. lucida, Muhl. (SHINING W.) Leaves ovate-lanceolate or narrower, 

 tapering to a very long acuminate point, at length coriaceous, smooth and shin- 

 ing both sides ; stipules small, oblong ; fruiting aments often persistent, the 

 capsules becoming rigid and polished, as in the nearly allied S. pentandra 

 of Europe. Banks of streams, N. Eng. to Penn., west and northward. A 

 beautiful species on account of its showy staminate aments and large glossy 

 leaves. 



*- H- Stamens mostly 2 ; capsules subsessile or very shortly pedicelled ; leaves 

 lanceolate, long-acuminate. 



S. FRAGILIS, L. (CRACK WILLOW.) Lea s green and glabrous, pale or 

 glaucous beneath, 3-6' long; stipules when present half -cordate ; stamens 

 rarely 3 - 4 ; capsule long-conical, shortly pedicelled. A tall and handsome 

 tree, which was planted at an early day c,bout Boston and elsewhere. The 

 var. DECfpiENS, Smith, with yellowish- vhite or crimson twigs, buds black in 

 winter, and smaller and brighter green leaves, ought perhaps to be excluded, 

 the plant so named by Barratt, etc., being one of the hybrids mentioned below 

 (Adv. from Eu.) 



S. ALBA, L. (WHITE W.) Leaves ashy-gray or silky-white on both sides, 

 except when old, 2-4' long; stipules ovate-lanceolate, deciduous; capsules 

 ovate-conical, sessile or nearly so. Var. c^ERtiLEA, Koch ; twigs olive ; old 

 leaves smooth, glaucous beneath, dull bluish green. Var. VITELLINA, Koch; 

 Cwigs yellow or reddish ; old leaves glabrous above. A familiar tree of rapid 

 growth, attaining a height of 50 - 80. The typical form, with olive twigs and 

 old leaves silky on both sides, is rarely found with us, but the var. VITELLINA 

 is common. Pure S. FRAGILIS is also scarce, but a host of hybrids between 

 the two, representing S. viridis, Fries, S. Russelliana, Smith, etc., are the 

 commonest of introduced willows. These forms are rendered almost inextri- 

 cable by a further cross, by no means rare, with our native S. lucida. (Adv. 

 from Eu.) 



S. BABYLONICA, Tourn. (WEEPING W.) Extensively planted for orna- 

 ment, and in some places widely spread along river-banks 'and lake-shores by 

 the drifting of detached limbs. (Adv. from Eu.) 



