SALIX FRAGILIS, S. RUSSELLIANA, AND S. VIRIDIS. 199 



Now read Smith's definition of fragilis— ' ■ Germinibus ovatis 

 subsessilibus," and compare his plate (E. B. t. 1807), which shows 

 a sessile or almost sessile ovary, distinctly obtuse, and with scarcely 

 any style. For the female plant in this plate two drawings were 

 made, both of which are in the Botanical Department of the 

 British Museum, along with the rest of the drawings for E. B. The 

 plant figured came from the Bev. J. Holme, Cambridge, and was 

 preferred to another (which Smith says is also right) from the Bev, 

 C. Abbot, Bedfordshire. In the drawing of the latter the ovary is 

 similar but rather more oblong, and with no style. I may here 



tana 



appears as if it were slightly obtuse, but in the drawing this is 

 scarcely the case. Smith notes (for Russell iana) , " stalk of germen 

 should be shewn,'' and " green of every part lighter than in S. 



fragilis." 



As illustrating " S.fragilis L., E. B. t. 1807," Mr. Leefe pub- 

 lished specimens in - Sal. Brit. Exs.,' No. 52, and ■ Sal. Exs.' fasc. 

 ii. No. 32, both from Essex. These agree thoroughly well with 

 Smith's description and plate. Of the former (No. 52) Andersson 

 wrote for Watson, 4 Specimina foliifera ad S. viridem Fr., amentifera 

 ad S.fragilem L. pertinent.' How, if as is probably the case, the 

 female catkins seen by Andersson are similar to those I have 

 seen, that distinguished salicologist could refer them to fragilis 

 I am at a loss to conceive, unless he had not time to examine them. 

 The almost sessile, short, abruptly-pointed ovaries are hi direct 

 opposition to his own definition of fragilis. (Andersson, I suspect, 

 made only a hurried examination of some British willows on 

 another occasion, since in the Kew Herbarium several specimens ^ 

 including one of S. viridis — certified by him, manifestly contradict 

 his own definition of the species they are said to belong to). The 

 specimens published by Mr. Leefe are, I have no doubt, Smith's 

 fragilis, and from a comparison of them with authentic specimens 

 of S. viiidis, I have also no doubt but that they are forms of that 

 hybrid. 



As a matter of fact, S. viridis — taking that name, as Andersson 

 does, to represent the series of hybrid forms between S.fragilis and 

 S. alba — is not very rare in England and South Scotland* As 

 already mentioned, the most striking characteristic is in the struc- 

 ture of the ovary, but the form of the catkins is also of importance. 

 These are more slender and proportionately longer, and as regards 

 the female more dense-flowered than in S. fragilis. The scales of 

 the flowers are, in this group, too variable in shape, size, and 

 pubescence to afford reliable characters, though (as will be seen 

 presently) some attention must be paid to them. The leaves are 

 also variable, sometimes approaching those oi fragilis, at other 

 times much resembling alba. On the whole they are less obliquely 

 acuminate, much more finely serrated, and of a darker green. 

 (Smith, as mentioned above, points out to his artist that the green 

 of " Russelliana" is paler than that of "fragilis"). 



As for the male plant figured in E. B. (t. 1807), while it is 

 not certain that it represents S. viridis, it is certainly not the 



