CHAP. cm. .VALICA'CEA:. 5A v Lix. 1551 



Synonymes. S. molllssima Smith Ft. Brit., p. 1070., exclusively of the synonymes, Eng. But., t. 1509., 

 tbeft Cyclo. ; S. acuminata, with narrower leaves, Koch Comm. t p. 31. ; S. acuniin&ta /3 Lindl. 

 SI/HO/)., p. 



The Sms. The female is described in Eng. Fl., and figured in Ping. Bot. and Sa/. Wob. 



i'ngravings. Eng. Bot., t. 1509. ; Sal. Wob., No. 134., the female ; and our Jig. 134. in p. 1629. 



Spec. Char., $c. Leaves lanceolate, pointed, slightly wavy, minutely toothed; 

 soft and downy above, but the down scarcely visible; whitish and silky 

 beneath. Stipules long, narrow. Catkins ovate. Germen stalked. Style 

 shorter than the linear deeply divided stigmas. (Smith Eng. Fl.) " In my 

 specimens the ovaries and bracteas are remarkably shaggy." (Hook in Br. Fl., 

 ed. 2.) A native of England, in meadows and osier grounds ; common 

 in the woods in the neighbourhood of Woburn ; and flowering in March 

 and April. " Branches erect, wand-like, round, long, slender, reddish, 

 leafy, smooth, finely downy and soft when young; brittle, and unfit for 

 basketwork. Leaves on shortish downy footstalks, lanceolate, 3 in. or 4 in. 

 long, tapering to a point; the margin wavy, or slightly crenated, with 

 minute teeth here and there, especially towards the point ; the upper side 

 green, delicately soft to the touch, with extremely minute, almost invisible, 

 close, silky down ; under side paler, whitish, densely silky, and likewise 

 peculiarly soft; the midrib and slender veins reddish, rather less downy. 

 Catkins appearing before the leaves, numerous, small." (Smith.) S. Smith- 

 ifina is without merit in the economical application of its rods, (Id.) 

 There are plants at Woburn Abbey, at Henfield, and at the Goldworth 

 Arboretum : also, under the name of S. mollissima, at Messrs. Loddiges's. 



t 78. S. MOLLI'SSIMA Ehrh. The softest-surfaced Willow, or Osier. 



Identification. Ehrh. Beitr., 6. p. 101. ; Willd. Sp. PL, 4. p. 707. ; Wahlenb. Fl. Carpat., p. 317. ; 

 ? Hayne Abbild., p. 252. ; Koch Comm., p. 28. 



Si/ onyme. S. pubera Koch apud Bb'nninghausen Fl. Monaster. 



The Sexes. The female is described in the specific character. Koch has noted that he had not seen 

 the male. 



Engraving. ? Hayne Abbild., 1. 195., the female. 



Spec. Char.,Sfc. Leaves lanceolate, acuminate, repandly toothed with distant minute teeth ; when 

 young, having the under surface finely tomentose. Stipules ovate, acute. Catkins sessile, or upon 

 a short twiglet seeming a peduncle, and bearing smalt leaves at the base of the catkin. Capsule 

 ovately conical/.tomentose, sessile. Gland reaching higher than the base of the ovary. Style elon- 

 gated. Stigmas linear, bifid, reaching as high as the hairs of the bracteas. (Koch.} It is easily 

 distinguished from S. viminalis by the down of the leaves being finer, yellowish, and not shining ; 

 the flowers more loosely disposed in the catkin ; the bracteas of a yellowish rusty colour, and by 

 their hairs being of a dull white, and of the length of the stigmas. In S. viminalis the leaves are 

 white, and silky beneath ; the bracteas of a very dark brown, and have silvery hairs ; and the stig- 

 mas are undivided, and extend beyond the hairs of the bracteas. S. mollissima grows wild upon 

 banks of rivers, and contiguously to water, in the north of Germany, in Silesia, and in the north of 

 Hungary. (Koch.) A native of Germany. 



3t ? t 79. S. HOLOSERI'CEA Hook., ? Willd. The velvety, or " soft-shaggy- 

 flowered" Willow, or Osier. 



Identification. Hook. Br. FL, ed. 2., p. 421. ; Bluff, and Fing. FL Germ., 2. p. 565. (Hook.) ; ? Willd. 



Sp. PL, 4. p. 708. (Hook.) ; ? Hayne Abbild., p. 253. ; ? Smith in Rees's Cyclo., No. 137. ; ? Koch 



Comm., p. 34. 

 Synonymes. S. Smithj'awa rugdsa, quoted as a name extant by Forbes in Sal. Wob., No. 134. ; ? S. 



acuminata, the var. mentioned by Smith in Eng. Fl. t 4. p. 228. ; S. acuminata var. rugdsa Smith 



MSS., and probably S. rubra of Walker's Essays, p. 443. (Borrer in a letter.) I believe that the 



velvet osier is S. holosericea Willd. 



The Sexes. The male is figured in Sal. Wob. ; the female is described in the Specific Character, S(c. 

 Engravings. Hayne Abbild., 1. 196. (the sex is the male); Sal. Wob., No. 134., in which the male 



catkin only is figured. 



Spec. Char., fyc. Leaves lanceolate, acuminate, serrated ; glabrous above; 

 pale, downy, and strongly veined beneath. Catkins cylindrical. Ovaries 

 stalked, densely clothed with silky wool. Stigmas ovate, sessile. Bracteas 

 very snaggy, black. (Hook. Br. Fl.) Wild about Lewes, Sussex. Mr. 

 Borrer thinks that this is probably allied to the S. holosericea Willd., and 

 distinguishes it from S. acuminata Smith by its sessile pale-coloured stigmas, 

 and leaves greener and more rugose above, and more strongly veined beneath. 

 (Ibid.) S. holosericea Willd. \s noticed by Smith (Eng. >Y., iv. p. 230.), as 

 a native of Germany, not so of Britain. It is recorded in the Hortus Bri- 

 tannicus, as introduced into Britain in 1822. Smith has remarked, besides, 

 that he believes a kind of osier, called the velvet osier, to be identical 

 with S. holosericea Willd. , and that the velvet osier is much valued for 



