SalLr.] DIOECIA— DIANDTIIA. 353 



fiesliy, perforated at the extremity- — Nat. Ord. Coniferje, 

 Juss. — Name — -o^ov, an arrow; it is said because arrows were 

 poisoned wit!) its juice. 



DIOECIA — DIANDRIA. 



1. Salix. Li/m. Willow, Sallow and Osier. 



The manyirnportantuses, rendered by the different species of Willoic 

 and Osier, serve to rank them among the first in our list of oeconomical 

 plants. The larger kinds, which are, too, of the most rapid growth, 

 yield timber and exceed 60 feet in lieight ; whilst the least of them, 

 which grows on the summits of our Highland mountains {S.herbacea), 

 can scarcely be said to rise above the surface of the soil in which it 

 vegetates. Many are in great request for baskets, hoops, and crates : 

 their bark is used by the tanner, and that of one species (^S*. RiisselUana), 

 as a substitute for the true Peruvian bark. A correct knowledge of the 

 species, then, is of primary importance ; no less to the cultivator than 

 to the botanist. Yet there is not in the whole range of the vegetable 

 creation, a genus, liable to more variation at different periods of growtii, 

 in different soils and situations, and under different circumstances ; so 

 that the accurate determination of its species has baffled the researches 

 of the ablest Ijotanists. For myself, I acknowledge that I apply to the 

 description of them for the present work with no feigned reluctance ; the 

 more genuine from a consciousness that in my Flora Scotica, I had 

 unfortunately^ given offence to one who was infinitely my superior, both 

 in age and learning, the estimable author of the English Botany, by 

 stating my opinion too confidently in regard to the limits of species. I 

 will not say that a more devoted attention to the subject has materially 

 altered my view of the points in question ; but I have here pursued a 

 different hue of conduct, and at least when the union of any two or more 

 species maybe considered a dubious procedure, Ihave adopted the species 

 ot my illustrious predecessor, and given my ideas (and those of other 

 friends, when I could obtain them,) on the propriety of the measure, in 

 language, I trust, not calculated to hurt the feelings of any one. 



My able friend Mr Borrer has materially aided mo by specimens and 

 by remarks ; and no one has ever studied the Willows, whether in the 

 growing or in the dried state, more deeply or with a less prejudiced 

 mind. He has himself extensively cultivated them ; but the richest 

 collection of living Willows is, unquestionably, that at Woburn Abbej% 

 Bedfordshire, which has given rise to a splendid work, the " Salictum 

 Woburnense" of His Grace the Duke of Bedford, of which a limited 

 number of copies only have been printed. It is truly gratifying to the 

 humbler botanist to find a man of that nobleman's exalted rank in 

 society and the senate, not disdaining to take pleasure in the study' of 



' His Grace was first led to devote his attention to plants by a severe attack 

 of illness, which uutitted him for the more important duties of his station : and 

 " if in this pursuit," he says in a former and almost equally beautiful hook, 

 the ' Ilortiis Ericatis Woburn en sis,'' " I have been able to beguile even a single 

 hour of irksomeness, during a protracted period of sickness and suffering, I 

 am abundantly grateful to that Providence which, in its universal dispensa- 

 tions, has permitted me to indulge in a pursuit at once so pleasing and so ra- 

 tional." Every succeeding year finds this nobleman more charmed with 

 Botany and Horticulture, and he is tlie liberal and disinterested patron, not 

 only of many reoetit botanical works, but of several excellent practical botan- 

 ists, Avho are sacrificing their time and their health in collecting the vegetable 

 treasures of distant parts of the world. 



VOL. r. 2 A 



