AMENTIFERT. 207 
bark. Only the male plant of it is now known in this country, although 
Smith describes the female. It is not improbable that it only appears 
when §. fragilis has its shoots cut annually for osiers. 
Var. a, Crack Willow. Var. 8B, White Welsh Willow. 
French, Saule fragile. German, Bruch Weide. 
This tree is tall and bushy-headed, growing from eighty to ninety feet high. The 
branches are round and very smooth, and “so brittle at the base in spring, that with 
the slightest blow they start from the trunk. Hence the name of “ crack willow,” 
though, according to Sir J. H. Smith, this is more or less the case with other willows, 
both native and exotic. It is also known as the “ red wood willow,” or “stag’s head 
osier.”’ The heart wood is of a deep red colour, very tough, and not as soft as that 
of most trees of the genus. It is very durable, both under water and when exposed 
to the air, and makes good fences, posts, and handles for implements of husbandry. 
When seasoned well it may be used in building houses, for planks, &ec., and will last 
well. Many medical properties were formerly attributed to this tree, which is gene- 
rally distinguished, par excellence, as ‘‘the willow.’ The roots of the tree are used 
in Sweden to boil with eggs to make them of a purple colour at Easter time. Gilpin 
writes, “ The withy, or Salix fragilis, is of little value in landscape, and yet there is 
something beautiful in its silver catkins, which open, as the year advances, into 
elegant hanging tufts, and when the tree is large and in full bloom, make a beautiful 
variety among the early productions of the spring.”’ The bark of S. fragilis and its 
varieties contains a large quantity of tannin, and is probably little inferior to that of 
the oak. The bark sold by druggists for medical purposes is collected indiscriminately 
from this and other species. 
The variety ( has highly polished and reddish brown branches, the young shoots 
bemg sometimes almost crimson. 
SPECIES (?) IV-SALIX VIRIDIS. Fries. 
Pirate MCCCVILI. 
Reich. Ic. Fl. Germ. et Helv. Vol. XI. Tab. DCX. Fig. 1265 (?) 
Anders. Mon. Sal. p. 43. 
S. fragilis-alba, Wimm. Mon. Sal. p. 133. 
S. Russelliana, Sm. Engl. Bot. ed. i. No. 1808, Engl. Fl. Vol. IV. p. 186. Hook. 
Brit. Fl. ed. iv. p. 358. Lindl. Syn. Brit. Fl. p. 232. 
S. alba, var. viridis, Wahl. Fl. Suec. ed. ii. p. 658. Anders. 
S. fragilis, var. Russelliana, Hook. & Arn. Brit. Fl. ed. viii. p. 401. Bab. Man. Brit. 
Bot. ed. vi. p. 308. 
Twigs erect, not breaking off readily at their origin. Leaves nar- 
rowly lanceolate-elliptical, attenuated at the base, longly acuminate at 
the apex or equally attenuated at each end, glandular-serrate, shining 
above, glabrous on both sides when mature. Stipules half-ovate, 
deciduous, often absent. Catkins opening at the same time as the 
leaf-buds expand, on short leafy lateral branches, spreading or recurved, 
cylindrical, rather slender, rather dense in flower, but lax in fruit. 
