SALICACEJE. 



649. S. fragilis Linn, sp.pl. 1443. Eng. Bot. t. 1807. is said 

 to yield good bark, but this is denied by Smith as has just been 

 stated. It is however included in some pharmacopoeias. 



650. S. purpurea Linn. sp. pi. 144-4?. Eng. Bot. t. 1388. 

 Smith Eng. Fl iv. 187. S. monandra Ehr. arb. 58. Fl. 

 Lond. t. 71. f. 5. S. helix Linn, sp.pl. 14-44. Eng. Bot. t. 1343. 

 Smith Eng. Fl. iv. 188. Low meadows. 



A tree of humble growth, about 10 feet high, or a trailing bush 

 smooth in every part ; the branches smooth and polished, of a purplish 

 colour, tough and pliable. Leaves as well as catkins, often opposite 

 and alternate upon the same plant; the former lanceolate, pointed, 

 much drawn out, as it were, into a linear shape towards the base; 

 finely serrated, chiefly upwards ; their colour, a light, rather glaucous, 

 green, turning blackish in drying. Footstalks short and stout. Stipules 

 none, except on very vigorous shoots, from the roots of trees that 

 have been felled, where they are sometimes of considerable size, half- 

 heart-shaped, wavy and obtuse. Bracts obovate, hairy; their upper 

 half dark brown ; those of the females notched. Gland tumid, opposite 

 the bract. Stamen solitary, scarcely longer than the bract. Anthers 

 of 4 lobes, and 4 cells. Ovary silky, ovate ; style smooth, full as long 

 as the linear, cloven, not ovate, stigmas. Capsule ovate, silky, light 

 brown, accompanied by the permanent styles, stigmas and blackened 

 scales. If the medicinal qualities of Willow bark are dependent 

 upon its bitterness, this species, which is the most bitter should furnish 

 the best. 



651. S. alba Linn. sp. pi 1449. Eng. Bot. t. 2430. Eng. 

 Fl. iv. 231. S. ccerulea Eng. Bot. t. 2431. Moist woods, 

 meadows and pastures. 



A tall tree, whose bark is thick, and full of cracks. The branches 

 are numerous, spreading widely, silky when young. Leaves all alter- 

 nate, on shortish footstalks, lanceolate, broadest a little above the 

 middle, pointed, tapering towards each end, regularly and acutely ser- 

 rated, the lower serratures most glandular ; both sides of a greyish, 

 somewhat glaucous, green, beautifully silky, with close-pressed silvery 

 hairs, very dense and brilliant on the uppermost, or youngest, leaves ; 

 the lowermost on each branch, like the bracteas, are smaller, more 

 obtuse, and greener. Stipules variable, either roundish or oblong, 

 small, often wanting. Catkins on short stalks, with 3 or 4 spreading 

 leafy bracteas, for the most part coming before the leaves, but a few 

 more often appear after Midsummer; they are all cylindrical, rather 

 slender, obtuse, near 1 inch long. Scales fringed, rounded at the 

 end; those of the barren catkins narrower towards the base; of the 

 fertile dilated and convolute in that part. Two obtuse glands, one 

 before, the other behind the stamens. Filaments hairy in their lower 

 part. Anthers roundish, yellow. Ovary very nearly sessile, green, 

 smooth, ovate-lanceolate, bluntish, longer than the scale. Style short. 

 Stigmas short, thickish, cloven. Capsule ovate, brown, smooth, rather 

 small. Smith. According to Smith the bark of this species, although 

 valuable in the treatment of agues, is inferior to that of S. Russelliana. 

 It is nevertheless the kind recommended by Mr. Stone in 1763. 



