WILLOW FAMILY 



SHINING WILLOW 



Si)/ix litcida, 



A bushy tree sometimes twenty feet in height, found on banlis of 

 streams and swamps, with shcrt truiilc and erect branches which form 

 a round-topped symmetrical head. Ranges from Newfoundland 

 westward across the continent to the Rocky Mountains, southward 

 as far as Pennsylvania and Nebraska. 



Bark. — Smooth, dark brown. Branchlets smooth at first, orange 

 color and shining, later dark brown. 



Winlcr Buds. — Ovate, acute, light brown, one-fourth of an inch 

 long. 



Leaves. — Alternate, oblong-lanceolate, three to five inches long, 

 narrowed or wedge-shaped, or rounded at base, finely serrate, acute 

 with long tapering often falcate points. Involute in bud, they come 

 out green, when full grown are leathery, smooth, shining, dark green 

 above, paler beneath, midrib conspicuously prominent beneath. 

 Petioles short, stout, yellow, grooved, glandular. Stipules semi- 

 circular, serrate, membranous and often persistent. 



Flowers. — April, before the leaves. Staminate 

 catkins oblong-cylindrical, densely flowered, an 

 inch to an inch and a half long, terminal, on short 

 leafy branches ; stamens five. Pistillate catkins 

 slender, an inch and a half to two inches long, 

 becoming three or four inches long when the fruit 

 ripens, often persisting until late. 



Fruif. — Capsule, cylindrical, one-third of an 

 inch long, shining. 



PEACH WILLOW— ALMONDLEAF 

 WILLOW 



.Siiii.x ant v^'Jaloh/rs. 



Sometimes si.xty to seventy feet high, with 

 straight trunk and straight ascending branches, 

 usually much smaller. Follows the water- courses 

 and ranges across the continent ; less abundant in 

 New England than elsewhere. In the west it be- 

 comes the common willow along the banks of 

 streams. 



398 



Almondleaf Willow, 

 Sahx amygdaloiiics. 

 Leahies 2' to 5' long, 



