SALICACE^E. (WILLOW FAMILY.) 483 



oblong, closely sessile, appearing before the leaves, naked at base ; capsules 

 rather shortly pedicelled, greenish or reddish, spreading ; scales dark red or 

 brownish ; style distinct ; stigmas bifid. 



7. S. humilis, Marsh. (PRAIRIE W.) Leaves oblanceolate or oblong-lan- 

 ceolate, the lowest obovate ; stipules medium-sized, semi-ovate, entire or oftener 

 toothed; petioles distinct; aments often recurved, about V long. Dry plains 

 and barrens, common. A shrub, 3-8 high, varying much in the size and 

 shape of the leaves. Hybrids with n. 6 have equally broad and large but duller 

 green leaves, softly tomentose beneath and with shorter petioles, the aments 

 squally thick but usually recurved, and the capsules on shorter pedicels. Small 

 forms apparently pass into the next. 



8. S. tristis, Ait. (DWARF GRAY W.) Leaves small (1 - 2' long), crowded, 

 linear-obi anceolate, tapering to a very short petiole ; stipules minute, deciduous ; 

 aments very small, globular or oval, about % long in fruit. Sandy plains or 

 on the borders of hillside thickets, common. A tufted shrub, 1 - H high, 

 rising from a strong large root. 



+H. -M. -w. Low shrubs, 3-10 high, of cold swamps, with slender yellowish or red- 

 dish twigs ; leaves lanceolate, smooth above, glaucous beneath and covered 

 when young with appressed silvery-silky hairs ; aments (especially the fertile) 

 with a few leafy bracts at base; capsule pedicelled, silvery-silky ; stigmas 

 bifid. 



*= Shrubs of lowland swamps ; leaves narrowly lanceolate, 2 - 3' long, taper-pointed, 

 finely and evenly serrate ; stipules linear or semi-cordate, deciduous ; aments 

 sessile or in fruit slightly peduncled ; style very short. 



9. S. sericea, Marsh. (SILKY W.) Leaves at first (principally beneath) 

 very silky, turning black in drying ; aments narrowly cylindrical, the fertile 

 densely flowered ; capsule short-pedicelled, ovate-oblong, rather obtuse. Com- 

 mon, but more prevalent from the region of the Great Lakes eastward. 



10. S. petiolaris, Smith. Leaves only slightly silky when young, soon 

 smooth, w r ith less tendency to blacken in drying ; fertile aments ovoid-cylindric, 

 in fruit broad and loose from the lengthening of the pedicels ; capsule rostrate 

 from an ovate base, rather acute. Var. GRACILIS, Anders., has extremely 

 loose aments, and very long-pedicelled attenuate-rostrate capsules. Common, 

 but more prevalent from the Great Lakes westward. This species, like the 

 preceding, hybridizes freely with S. cordata. 



= = Alpine shrub ; leaves 1 - 2' long, repand-crenate ; stipules minute, fugacious ; 

 aments leafy-peduncled; style distinct. 



11 S. argyrocarpa, Anders. Leaves tapering evenly to both ends, 

 acute, or the earliest obovate and obtuse, at length rigid, the margin slightly 

 revolute ; petiole short ; fruiting ament short (about V long), loosely flowered ; 

 capsule tapering, densely silky-silvery ; gland of the staminate flower variously 

 doubled. Moist alpine ravines in a few limited localities on or near Mt. 

 Washington, N. H. ; also in Lower Canada and Lab. A bushy branched shrub, 

 erect or depressed at base, 1-2 high, growing in wide dense patches. A hy- 

 brid with n. 13 was detected by Mr. E. Faxon in Tuckerman's ravine (its leaves 

 collected by Dr. Gray as early as 1842!), appearing like a large form of the 

 specias with the aments of S. phylicifolia. 



