636 CVII. FAGACEjE [Ca&tanea- 



some success in the Dim and elsewhere. A long-lived deciduous tree, growth rapid 

 while young, coppices readily, med. rays uniform, very fine. L. sharply serrate, 

 spikes erect, axillary, the lower cj,the upper androgynous, the 9 fl. at base. <5 fl. 3 

 or more in the axil of one bract, stamens numerous. 9 fl. usually 3 in one involucre, 

 ovary 6-celled, styles 6. Ripe involucre 1-2 in. diam., densely spinous, dehiscing- 

 into 2—4 valves. A variety in China with 1. densely tomentose beneath. Chesnuts 

 are imported from China into Upper Burma. 



Order CVIII. SALICACEiE. Gen. PI. iii. 411 



(Sahcineca). 



Deciduous, fast growing, as a rule not very long-lived trees or shrubs, with: 

 scaly buds. L. alternate, simple, stipulate. Fl. dioecious in catkins, which 

 are similar in both sexes, each bract bearing one fl. in its axil. Perianth 0, a. 

 more or less developed disk at the base of stamens and ovary. $ : stamens 2: 

 or more, filaments usually free, no rudimentary ovary in normal fl. $ : ovary 

 1-celled, ovules oo on 2-4 parietal placentas, style short, 2-4-fid. Capsule^ 

 usually 2-valved, the valves spreading or rolling back. Seeds oo, minute, 

 enclosed by a mass of long silky deciduous hairs attached to the funicle,. 

 embryo straight, radicle minute, inferior, albumen 0. 



Wood soft, medullary rays narrow, vessels small, uniformly distributed, wood- 

 parenchyma not much developed, wood fibres wide, walls not thick, pits simple. 

 Petioles short, disk of 1 or 2 separate glands, stamens 2-12, in most 



species 2, long-exserted 1. Salix. 



Petioles long, disk flat or cup-shaped, stamens 4-30 . . . .2. Populus. 



1. SALIX, Linn. ; Fl. Brit, Ind. v. 626. 



Leaves lanceolate, ovate or elliptic, petioles short, as a rule less than one- 

 fourth the length of leaf. Bracts of catkins entire, disk of 1 or 2, rarely more r 

 glands or scales. Stamens 2-12, in most species 2, filaments long, filiform. 

 Valves of capsule generally rolled back, placentas near the base of valves. 

 Species about 160, nearly all in the Northern Hemisphere. 



Sect. i. Pleiandrce. Stamens 3-12, filaments free, villous at the base. 



1. S. tetrasperma, Roxb. Cor. PI. t. 97 ; Wight Ic. t. 1954 ; Bedd. Fl. Sylv. t. 302 ;. 

 Brandis P. PI. t. 58. Vern. Bins, Haz. ; Bed, Bains, Hind. ; Bilsa, Birsa, Oudh ; Bhe y 

 Ass. ; Bitasa, Walunj, Mar. ; Niranji, Kan, ; Yanti, Mai. ; Momaka, Lower, Yene, Upper 

 Burma. Subhimalayan tract and outer ranges, ascending to 6,000 ft. Common and in 

 places gregarious, on river banks and in moist places throughout India, in the Himalaya 

 ascending to 6,000, in the Nilgiris to 7,000 ft. On the Aravali hills, but not known 

 from the arid region of Sind and the southern Punjab. Burma, Upper and Lower. 

 China. Malay Penins. and Archip. Not in Ceylon. A middle-sized tree, sometimes 

 a shrub, wood reddish, bark rough with deep vertical furrows, the lower 2-3 ft. of stem,, 

 if subject to inundation, often covered with numerous small rootlets. Young shoots 

 and young 1. silky, branchlets and underside of 1. sometimes pubescent. L. glaucous 

 beneath, lanceolate, rarely ovate-lanceolate, as a rule minutely and regularly serru- 

 late, blade 2-6, pet. J-l in. long. PI. after the 1, catkins $ 2-4, 9 3-5 in. 

 long, bracts pale. Stamens 5-10, capsules glabrous or puberalous, often in groups, 

 of 3-4, pedicel as long as capsule, or nearly so, style short, stigmas 2 spreading, 

 generally entire, seeds 4-6. In Burma often leafless during the rains. Remarkable 

 varieties: (a) pyrina. Kumaon, Nepal. Branchlets, petioles, underside of Land rachis 

 of catkins pubescent, 1. nearly entire, (b) caJophylla. Pegu, Tenasserim. Glabrous,. 

 1. broadly lanceolate, pet. long. 2. S. ichnostachya, Lindl. ; Wight Ic, t. 1953. North 

 Kanara and the Konkan, along river banks. Mysore. Shevaroy hills. L. lanceolate, 

 pet, §-li in. Capsule broadly ovoid, densely woolly, nearly sessile. 3. S. acmophylla*. 

 Boiss. Vern. Bed, Bada, Hind., Punj. ; Jalmdla, Dun. Baluchistan, wild and culti- 

 vated. Kuram valley. Kashmir. Subhimalayan tract east to the Ganges. Northern 

 Punjab, often cultivated. — Western Asia. A middle-sized tree, young shoots and 

 young 1. silky. L. linear-lanceolate, as a rule entire, blade 1-5, pet. \ in. PI after 

 the 1, catkins on leafy peduncles, i compact 1-2 in. 9 lax 1 in. long, bracts pale. 

 Stamens 4-6, capsule glabrous, ovoid-conical, pedicellate, style short. 



Sect. ii. Diandrce. Stamens 2, filaments free (see 4. elegans). 



