392 



LXXXV. SALIC ACE ^. 



tains (6'. herbacea), can scarcely be said to rise above the surlH^o . 

 the soil in which it vegetates. Many are in great request for ba'cK, 

 hoops, and crates : their bark is used by the tanner, and that of ' 

 .species (S. fragilis van Russelliana~) as a substitute for the\°"'' 

 Peruvian Bark. A correct knowledge of them, then, is of prim "' 

 importance ; yet there is not in the whole range of the ve^etnl? 

 creation, a genus liable to more variation in properties, as weTl I?; 

 foliage and general appearance, at different periods of growth ' 

 different soils and situations, and under different circumstances' ! 

 that the accurate determination of its species, or even what constltm!'' 

 a species, has baffled the researches of the ablest botanists Th 

 hgures in Eng. Bot. are rather portraits of individuals, perpetuated C 

 cuttings, than general representations of the species, which woi,!"^ 

 have been better illustrated and understood had the specimens b.Pn 

 raised from seed, or selected from truly wild plants. Of some i^ 

 IS said that we only know the barren plant ; of others only the fertile- 

 either such cannot be indigenous, or the one kind may have put on 

 so different an aspect as to be looked for among the allied supposed 

 distinct species:" according to our own observations the fertile 

 plant is subject to more variation in the form of the leaves than tl,P 

 barren one, but both often vary extremely, rendering that character 

 generally of no value even for distinguishing varieties. In an over 

 loaded and confiised dioecious genus like the present, we can only 

 positively determine which is the sterile and what the fertile state of 

 the same species, by raising them from seed : were this accomplished 

 we might reasonably expect, wlienever the species was a good one a 

 double set of characters, each sufficient of itself; instead of havin'-. 

 as at present, only one, and that far from precise, taken partly fro^ 

 the pistillate, partly from the doubtful staminate plant.- We shaU 

 contnme^to adopt, with few deviations, the arrangement proposed 

 by Mr Borrer in the 5th and previous editions of the British Flora 

 and refer our readers there for full notes on all the species or varieties' 

 But It ,s to be regretted that some general arrangement, not for a 

 local flora only, but for the species of the whole world were not 

 devised and universally adopted ; perhaps none hitherto a temp ed i 

 superior to that of Koch, with some slight modifications ^ 



two 2.celled ankers. Capsules sessile, very pubescent. Cathns up- 

 C«7//r' ''T'i''T'' '"'''^'^ "'^^' 2-^ smallleaf-like Jc 



s Ji; Lrj.^?'' ^- ^^'"'P-' ''^•)' fi^'-^^^^^t 1, capsule ovate, 



Ses noi?o ^^ ," ^'T'^'' x"P^^''^^ acuminate serrulate 

 fhittl Zr\ ~W f ^"^^^^^"t' ^^^nehes purple. E. B. t. 1388 

 (bitter purple W.).-/3. erect, young branches purplish or 



b. Lambertiana Sm. : E. B. t. 1359 (Boyton W., 



E. B. S. t. 2651. 



yellow. 



leaves lanceolate.) _^^ ^ 



(Woollgar's W., leaves cuneate-lancZl^e) 



(i 



» 



4, 



M 



Id, 



