1540 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART 111. 



This species is readily distinguished from the remaining ones be- 

 longing to this section (with the exception of S. incubacea), by its 

 very silvery leaves and upright mode of growth. Both sexes are 

 described in JEng. Fl. ; the female is figured in Sal. Wob. and Haync 

 Abbild. There are plants at Woburn Abbey, Henfield, and Flitwick 

 House, and also in the Goldworth Arboretum. 



& 53. S. DoN/^\Y4 Smith. Don's, or the rusty-branched, Willow. 



Identification. Smith in Eng. Fl., 4. p. 213. ; Forbes in Sal. Wob., No. 85. ; Hook. Br. Fl., ed. 3., 



p. 424.; Borrer in Eng. Bot. Suppl., t. 2599. 

 The Seses. The female is described and figured in Sal. Wob. and Eng. Bot. The male has not yet 



been discovered. 

 Engravings. Sal. Wob., No. 85. ; Eng. Bot., t. 2599. ; our fig. 1322. ; anAflg. 85. in p. 1618. 



Spec. Char., #c., Leaves obovate-lanceolate, partly opposite, acute, slightly 

 serrated, even ; livid and somewhat silky beneath. Stipules linear. Branches 

 erect. Catkins erect, cylindrical. Ovary stalked, silky, longer than the 

 obovate bearded bractea. (Smith and Borrer.) Sent from 

 Scotland, as British, by the late Mr. George Don. It 

 flowers in May. Stem 5 ft. or 6 ft. high, with straight, 

 wand-like, round, leafy branches, of a reddish or rusty 

 brown, scarcely downy, except when very young. Leaves 

 mostly alternate, but several of the lowermost pairs oppo- I 

 site ; all nearly upright, flat ; 1^ in. long, uniform ; broadest, 

 and most evidently serrated, in their upper part, towards '" 

 the point; green, minutely veiny, and glabrous above ; livid, 

 or in some measure glaucous, as well as finely downy or silky, beneath, 

 with a prominent reddish midrib, and slender veins ; the silkiness less evi- 

 dent on the older ones. Footstalks short, very broad at the base, paler 

 than the branches. Catkins of female flowers appearing before the 

 leaves, on short lateral stalks. (Smith.) S. Doniana, in the female, which is 

 the only sex at present known to British botanists, assimilates to the kinds 

 of the group Purpurese, except S. rubra Huds., in the aspect of the branches, 

 shoots, leaves, and catkins ; in some of the leaves being opposite ; and in 

 the old bark being internally yellow, though less remarkably so than that of 

 these kinds ; but it differs from them in having its leaves silky beneath, 

 and its ovary stalked, and Mr. Borrer believes that, in the relation of 

 affinity, it is nearest to S. fusca ; but he notices that we are without the 

 means of proof, which the male flowers would afford. There a r e plants 

 at Woburn Abbey, Henfield, and Flitwick House, and in the Goldworth 

 Arboretum. 



Group xii. Ambigua Borrer. 



Shrubs. 



S. finmarchiea Willd. has been added to kinds included in this group by Mr. 

 Borrer. 



-* * 54. S. AMBI'GUA Ehrh. y Borrer. The ambiguous Willow. 



Identification. Borrer in Eng. Bot. Suppl., t. 2733., who has adduced there the following references : 

 " Ehrh. : Willd. Sp. PL, 4. p. 700. ; Hook. Br. Fl., ed. 2., p. 418. ; Koch Comm., p. 49. ; Bluff: et 

 Fing. Fl. Germ., 2. 561." 



Synonymes. Some are cited under the varieties treated of below ; S. ambigua Koch, part of, Koch 

 Comm., p. 49. 



The Sexes. Both sexes of var. , the female of var. 0, the male of var. y, and the female of var. 2>, 

 are figured in Eng. Bot. Suppl. 



Engraving. Engl. Bot. Suppl., t. 2733. 



Spec. Char., &c. Leaves oval, obovate, or lanceolate, slightly toothed, and having a recurved point ; 

 pubescent, somewhat rugose above, glaucous and having prominent veins beneath. Stipules half- 

 ovate, acute. Catkins stalked, upright, cylindrical. Ovary stalked, densely silky. Style vary 

 short. Stigmas short, at length cloven. (Borr. in Bot. Suppl.') Indigenous on gravelly heaths, in 

 Sussex, Essex, and Suffolk ; and has been observed in Perthshire, Angusshirc, Caithnesf, Orkney, 



