Purple Willow 



207 



so, and purplish after the first season. The leaves are eUiptic-lanceolate to some- 

 what obovate, 10 cm. long or less, 2 to 4 cm. wide, pointed at both ends or bluntish 

 at the apex, when young 

 hairy on both sides, and es- 

 pecially so beneath, and mi- 

 nut ely glandular- toothed, 

 when mature entire-mar- 

 gined, smooth and hght 

 green on the upper side, per- 

 sistently white-felty beneath; 

 the stout, hairy leaf-stalks 

 are 1.5 cm. long or less, the 

 narrowly lanceolate hairy 

 stipules I to 2 cm. long. 

 The catkins appear in May 

 or June and flower before 

 the leaves unfold or while 

 they are unfolding; they are 

 nearly stalkless, 2 to 7 cm. 

 long, their bracts long-hairy, 

 ovate, blunt; there are 2 sta- 



FiG. 170. — Felt-leaf WUlow. 



mens in the staminate flowers with separate filaments; the pistillate flowers have 

 a narrowly ovoid-conic woolly short-stalked ovary and a fihform style much longer 

 than the stigmas. The capsules are woolly, very short-stalked, about 6 mm. long. 

 Salix longistylis Rydberg, of the Yukon Territory, differs from this species in 

 having the twigs devoid of hairs; it is not known to grow more than 4 meters high. 



Fig. 171. — Purple Willow. 



31. PURPLE WILLOW — 



Sails purpurea Linnaeus 



The Purple willow is native in Europe; 

 it has been introduced into eastern North 

 America for ornament and for osiers, and 

 has locally escaped from cultivation in the 

 eastern and middle States and perhaps in 

 Ontario. While usually a shrub, it occa- 

 sionally forms a small tree up to 4 meters 

 high. It is also called Bitter willow, Rose 

 willow, and Whipcord willow. 



Its twigs are purple, slender, and flejcu- 

 ous. The leaves are oblanceolate, pointed 

 at the apex, narrowed at the base, toothed, 

 4 to 7 cm. long, 10 mm. wide or less, rather 



