Trees of New York Slate 113 



SALICACEAE 



Salix lucida Muhl. 



Shining Willow 



Habit — Usually shrubby, occasionally a small bushy tree 20-30 feet in height 

 ■vvith a trunk diameter of 6-8 inches. Crown round-topped, syninietrical, 

 rather broad. Trunk short. 



Leaves — Alternate, lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, 3-5 inches long, 1-1 ^^ 

 inches wide, attenuate at the apex, wedge-shaped or rounded at the base, 

 finely serrate, at maturity coriaceous, dark green and lustrous above, 

 paler and lustrous beneath, borne on short, terete, glandular petioles. 

 Stipules semi-circular, membranous, persistent through the summer. 



Flowers — Appearing in May and early June, dioecious, glandular, borne in 

 the axils of yellowish, rounded scales, the whole forming aments termi- 

 nating short leafy branches. Staminate aments oblong-cylindrical, densely 

 flowered, 1-1% inches long. Pistillate aments slender-cylindrical, 1^/^-2 

 inches long. Perianth wanting. Stamens 5, with long filaments which 

 are hoary below, and yellow anthers. Pistil solitarj', consisting of a 

 stalked, glabrous, conic-ovoid ovary and 2 nearly sessile stigmas. 



Fruit — A pale brown, smooth and lustrous, conic-ovoid capsule, about % 

 of an inch long, opening by 2 opposite sutures at maturity to set free 

 the minute, comose seeds. 



Winter characters — Twigs stout, glabrous, dark yellomsh bro^oi, at length 

 dark brown. Terminal bud lacking. Lateral buds 1-scaled, oval, acute, 

 yello\\ish brown and lustrous, about H of an inch long. Mature barJc 

 reddish brown, thin, divided into furrows and flat-topped, shallow ridges. 



Habitat — A moisture-loving species occurring in swamps, along stream 

 courses and lake shores, and in springy places. 



Bange — Newfoundland westward to the North West Territory in Canada, in 

 the United States from Maine to eastern Montana, south to southern 

 Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Nebraska. Zones A, B, C, and D. 



Uses — Of slight economic importance. The tree deserves consideration 

 ornamentally because of its dark green, shining foliage which resembles 

 that of the Bay-leaved Willow. 



