2o8 The Willows 



dark dull green on the upper side, pale green or whitish beneath, smooth on both 

 surfaces; their stalks are about 6 mm. long, smooth, not glandular, their stipules 

 very small, and faU away early. The catkins are borne on twigs of the preceding 

 season, and flower in April or May before the leaves unfold; they are nearly or 

 quite stalkless and from 2 to 5 cm. long, their bracts blunt, purple, hairy, and 

 persistent; the staminate flowers have two hairy stamens, their filaments and some- 

 times also the anthers united. The capsules are hairy, stalkless, and the stigmas 

 sessile. 



