4 68 THE GOAT WILLOW. 



the stem, the first bud being placed in a direct line over the fifth 

 bud. So close together are the buds on the upper part of the shoot 

 that the tip of one reaches to the base of the other. The lower 

 part of the twig is bare, and in like manner the lower parts of the 

 branches are destitute of twigs, though marked by numerous pro- 

 jections at the points where flowers were produced in former seasons. 

 In the early spring the bud-scale is a bright yellow-brown 

 colour : as the bud expands it splits from the tip downwards, form- 

 ing a U-shaped shell at the base of the young leaves. These are curled 

 up from the side to the centre, and rolled round one another, so 

 that they form a cone of bright silvery green. As the leaves expand 

 their tips curve backwards, and the bright green of the shining upper 

 surface is exposed. The under-side and the young stem are still 

 covered with whitish down. By August the upper surface of the 

 leaf-blade has grown darker in colour, and become indented with a 

 net-work of veins : it has no gloss, and when seen foreshortened, 

 appears slightly downv : the under-side is a paler green, with blue 

 tints and veins inclining to yellow. The leaves are opaque and 

 somewhat thick, and the veins, though numerous and strongly marked, 

 do not crinkle the blade between them. As regards their position 

 on the shoot, they are either horizontal or inclined slightly upwards. 

 The shoot soon loses the down that distinguished it in the early 

 stages of growth, and becomes mealy and purplish-green in colour. 

 In summer the stout pointed buds, set between large fan-shaped 

 stipules in the axils of the leaf-petioles, are very noticeable. 



