HARPER'S GUIDE TO WILD FLOWERS 



spring. Twigs smooth, polished, yellowish or dark green. Leaves, 

 ovate, lance - shape, sharply and finely toothed, tapering at 

 apex, glossy green on both sides, 3 to 5 inches long, on stout, 

 short petioles. Stipules, rather prominent, heart-shape, glandu- 

 lar. Young leaves covered with stiff, reddish-brown hairs. April 

 and May. 



One of the prettiest shrubs of this Family, 8 to 15 feet high, 

 or a small tree, 20 feet high, of regular, bushy form, found in 

 swamps and the borders of streams from Pennsylvania, 

 Illinois, and Nebraska northward. 



Dwarf Gray Willow. Sage Willow 

 S. tristis. — Catkins, sessile, few-flowered, small, \ inch long, 

 appearing before the leaves. Staminate flowers consist of 2 sta- 

 mens with smooth filaments ; pistillate, of 2 sessile stigmas raised 

 above the ovary on a thread-like stalk. Leaves, very narrow, 1 

 to 2 inches long, whitish below, green and smooth above, with 

 revolute margins, on short petioles. 



The smallest of the genus, a tufted species, 1 or 2 feet high. 

 Dry soil, Maine to Florida, near the coast. 



Bog Willow. Pussy Willow. Glaucous Willow 



S, discolor. — Leaves, broader than the preceding, finely serrate 

 near the middle, entire near the apex and base, bright green 

 above, smooth and whitish below, with petioles and conspicuous 

 stipules, at least on the younger leaves, partly heart - shape, as 

 long as the petioles. Catkins, sessile, coming before the leaves 

 in early spring, soft, hairy, glossy, the pistillate 2 to 3 inches long. 

 Bracts on the catkins dark red, brown, or even black. 



A shrub about 15 feet high, variable in form, common on 

 banks of rivers and streams and in low meadows from Maine 

 to Delaware. 



Silky Willow 



S. sericea. — Leaves, long-petioled, finely toothed, narrow, 3 to 

 4 inches long, very soft and silky, especially when young. Cat- 

 kins, sessile, with a few leafy bracts at their base, about 1 inch long, 

 turning black or dark brown when dried. 



Young twigs red or purplish, 5 to 12 feet tall, in swamps 

 and near streams from Maine to North Carolina, westward 

 to Michigan. 



Other members of this Family might be listed as small 

 trees or shrubs, but they are more or less localized as along the 

 slopes of certain mountains. Many are plants of the arctic 



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