SALIX.] SALIC 1NEJE 373 



Heaths, commons, &c., from Shetland southd. ; ascends to 2,500 ft. in the 

 Highlands; Ireland; Channel Islands; fl. April-May. A small, straggling 

 bush ; branches slender, elongate, erect or decumbent ; buds silky. Leaves 

 excessively variable, |-1^ in., young always silvery silky. Catkins preceding 

 or appearing with the leaves, erect, short, sessile, rarely on lengthening 

 leafy peduncles |?-1 in. ; bracts leafy ; scales yejiow-green or purple, silky, 

 always dark at the tip ; anthers yellow till the pollen is shed. Capsule 

 pedicelled, glabrous or silky. DISTEIB. Europe, Siberia. The following 

 are the chief British forms. 



S. re' pens proper ; stem decumbent below, flowering branches erect or ascend- 

 ing, leaves appearing with the flowers elliptic-oblong quite entire silky 

 beneath tip straight, stipules 0, capsule glabrous. S. fus'ca, L. ; stem sub- 

 erect, branches spreading, leaves elliptic-oblong faintly serrate tip straight ; 

 the rest as in repens. &. prostra'ta, Sm.; prostrate, branches many slender, 

 leaves appearing after the flowers faintly serrate puberulous above glaucous 

 and silky beneath, stipules minute or 0, capsule silky. S. ascen'dens, Sm. ; 

 stem decumbent, branches ascending, leaves as in prostra'ta but appearing 

 with the flowers more silky beneath and tips recurved, stipules ovate or 

 lanceolate or 0, capsule silky at length glabrous. S. parvifolia, Sm. ; stem 

 as in prostra'ta, leaves and capsules as in ascendens, stipules small ovate or 0. 

 S. argen'tea^m. (arena'ria, L. partly) ; stem and simple slender branches 

 erect, leaves appearing with the flowers elliptic-ovate quite entire densely 

 silky and silvery especially beneath, tip recurved, capsule silky. A large 

 form, growing in sandy places. S. rosmarinifo'lia, L. ; leaves 2-3 in. linear 

 or linear-lanceolate faintly glandular-serrate or entire glabrous or silky be- 

 neath, stipules ovate or lanceolate, catkins short sessile dense, scales black, 

 capsule tomentose. Said to have been found in the last century by Sheiaid 

 in bogs in Scotland. 



S. incuba'cea, L. (? S. ambig'ua, Ehrh. ; S. re'pens, var. incuba'cea, Syme), is re- 

 ferred to re'pens by Wirnmer, and to a hybrid between this and auri'ta 

 by Andersson ; it has reticulate leaves with recurved margins and large sti- 

 pules. S. spathula'ta, Willd., is referred byAnder^scn to a hairy foim of it. 



** Capsule with a slender pedicel ; style distinct. 

 8. S. ni'gricans. Sin. ; leaves thin ovate-obloug cordate or lanceolate 



subacute reticulate above, stipules or ^-cordate, catkins sessile or on short 



leafy peduncles ovoid or cylindric, scales linear-oblong hairy. 



Rocks and banks of streams, from York to Argyll and Aberdeen ; ascends to 

 2,300 ft. in the Highlands ; rare in Ireland ; fl. May-June. A procumbent 

 shrub or tree, 10 ft. Leaves entire or serrate, black when dry. Catkins ^-1 

 in., appearing before or after the leaves, scales acute or obtuse. Filament* 

 hairy at the base. Capsule narrowly conical, glabrous or tomentcse ; 

 pedicel and styles slender. DISTRIB. Alps of N. and Mid. Europe. 

 Andersson describes this as the most variable of the genus. It is perhaps 

 a form of S. phylicifo'lia, which presents a parallel series of variations. 

 Syme sums its differences in the thinner more reticulate darker leaves, mere 

 or less glaucous beneath, blackening more when dry, and more permanently 

 hairy ; more pubescent twigs ; large stipules ; more glabrous capsule ; shorter 

 style and longer pedicel. 



Mr. Baker's experience is : phylicifo'lia, twigs bright chestnut, rarely hairy ; 

 leaves firmer brighter coloured above, glaucous (very rarely not), quite 



