CHAP. C1J1. .VALICA N CE#:. .YA\L1X. 1563 



3 in.; the margin wavy, and more or less strongly serrated. Footstalks 

 stout, downy. Catkins numerous, much earlier than the foliage, and 

 almost sessile." This tree, Sir W. J. Hooker observes, " distinguishes itself, 

 in the spring, by being loaded with handsome yellow blossoms before any of 

 its leaves appear. The catkins," both of the male and the female, "are broader 

 and shorter than in most of the species with crowded flowers." " This species," 

 Mr. Forbes observes, "has several very valuable qualities. The bark serves 

 the Highlanders for tanning, and is no indifferent substitute for the cinchona 

 in agues. The wood, being white, tough, and smooth in grain, forms excellent 

 hurdles, and good handles for hatchets. It is also used for charcoal, and 

 in the manufacture of gunpowder, &c. The catkins are much resorted to 

 by bees for honey." (Sal. Wob., p. 243.) According to Mitchell, it is the 

 best underwood for coppices that we have. It makes good fences ; and 

 sheep-hurdles made of it will last a year or two longer than those made of 

 hazel ; and they will suit every situation, wet or dry. (Dendrologia, p. 56.) 

 The flowering branches of this species are called palms, and are gathered by 

 children on Easter Sunday ; the relics of the Catholic ceremony formerly 

 . performed in commemoration of the entry of our Saviour into Jerusalem. 

 (See Dr. Johnstons Flora of Berwick upon Tweed.) 



A 98. S. SPHACELA^TA Smith. The withered-pointed-leaved Willow, 

 or Sallow. 



Identification. Smith Fl. Br., p. 1066. ; Willd. Sp. PI., 4. p. 702. ; Smith in Rees's Cyclo., No. 125. * 

 Eng. Bot, t. 2333. ; Eng. Fl., 4. p. 224. ; Forbes in Sal. Wob., No. 121. ; Hook. Br. Fl., ed.3., p.429. 



Synonymes. S. caprea var. Koch Comm., p. 38. ; .V. caprea /3 Wahl. Carpat., p. 319. " I received S. 

 sphacelata Smith, for the S. populifblia Schleicher." (Forbes in Sal. Wob.} 



pu 



The Sexes. Both sexes are described in Eng. Fl., and figured in Eng. Bot. and in Sal. Wob. 

 Engravings. Eng. Bot, t. 2333. ; Sal. Wob., No. 121. ; and fig. 121. in p. 1625. 



Spec. Char., $c. Stem erect. Leaves elliptic-obovate, even, veiny, entire, or 

 slightly serrated ; downy on both sides ; discoloured at the point. Stipules 

 half-heart-shaped, toothed, erect. Ovary stalked, ovate-lanceolate, silky. 

 Stigmas notched, longer than the style. (Smith Eng. Fl.) A native of 

 Britain ; found, in Scotland, near the head of Loch Tay ; and flowering in 

 April and May. A small bushy tree, 5 ft. or 8 ft. high ; the young branches 

 very soft with dense, hoary, short, velvet-like down. Leaves, in like manner, 

 soft and downy, especially when first opening; always of a greyish aspect ; 

 their shape obovate or elliptical, with a small oblique point ; their length 

 Hin., perhaps 2iin. at their full growth; the margin either quite entire, or 

 slightly, sparingly, and unequally serrated; the upper side light green, clothed 

 with fine down, which finally disappears ; under more downy, with a pro- 

 minent rib and veins, hoary, not glaucous ; the tip, from its earliest formation, 

 nearly naked, green or brownish, soon looking as if blasted or withered, 

 and assuming a tawny hue. The footstalks are shortish, and thickly downy. 

 Catkins on short hairy stalks, l^in. long when matured. Very distinct 

 from every other British willow that Mr. Forbes has seen ; and readily 

 known by its whitish woolly leaves, which are always more or less marked 

 with holes, and the larger ones of which are serrated in their adult state. 



Group xvii. Nigricantes Borrer. 

 Shrubs with long Branches, or small Trees. Mostly Sallows. 



A group as difficult to define as are the kinds of which it is constituted. 

 Stamens 2 to a flower. Ovary stalked, glabrous or silky. Style more or 

 less 2-cleft. In leaves, many of the kinds approach those of the group 

 Cinereae very nearly, having ovate or obovate ones ; but the leaves are less 

 wrinkled. Plants shrubs with long branches, or small trees. (Hook. Br. 

 f '/., ed. 2.) The term Nigricantes has been applied to this group, not, as it 



