414 SALiCACE^. (willow family.) 



npper side becoming nearly smooth at maturity ; stipules minute, hairy, very eiwly 

 deciduous; catkins gMndar when youn^, loosdy-Jiowered ; ovary with u long tapering 

 beak, clothed with silvery hairs ; style short ; stigmas 2-hbed. — New England to 

 Wisconsin and southward. — Shrub l°-.lj° high, much branched: leaves 

 thick, Ij' long. Stipules seldom seen, often reduced to a mere gland. A vari- 

 ety occurs with very small and rigid contorted leaves. 



3. S. Iinmilis, Marshall. (Low Bush Willow.) Leaves petioled, lan- 

 ceolate or obovate-lanceolate, acute or obtuse with an abrupt point, slightly 

 downy above, more thickly so, or sometimes grayish-woolly, beneath ; stipules 

 ^mall, semi-ovate and entire, or larger and lunar with 2-4 teeth, shorter than the peti- 

 oles; catkins often recurved; ovary hairy,; style distinct; stigmas 2-clefi, {S. 

 Muhlenbergiana, Barratt. S. conifera, Muhl.) — Borders of fields and road- 

 sides; common. — Shrub 3° - 8° high, varying much in size and appearance. 

 The small forms are at times scarcely distinguishable from No. 2, but the leaves 

 are longer, less firm in texture, and generally stipulate ; the larger forms, with 

 leaves 3' -5' long and i'-l' broad, resemble those of the two next species, but 

 retain more or less down on the under surface at maturity. — The species of this 

 and the following section often bear cone-like excrescences on the ends of the 

 branches, formed of closely imbricated leaves, probably occasioned by the punc- 

 ture of insects. 



1- -I- Catkins cylindrical, large, clothed unth long glossy hairs : leaves more or less 

 serrate, smooth and shining above, glaucous beneath and at length smooth, —^ Shrubs 

 or small trees. 



4. S. discolor, Muhl. (Glaucous Willow.) Leaves lanceolate or 

 ovate-lanceolate, acute, irregularly toothed on the sides, entire at the base and 

 apex ; stipules semilunar, toothed ; catkins erect ; scales very hairy, dblanceolate, 

 mmewhat acute; ovary densely silky. (S. sensitlra, Barratt?) — Low meadows 

 and river-banks ; common. — A large shrub or small tree, S'^ - 1 5° high. The 

 young leaves are commonly obtuse and pubescent, at length becoming smooth 

 and whitish-glaucous beneath. Stipules in the vigorous shoots equalling the 

 petiole, more often small and inconspicuous. Young catkins 1^' long, glossy, 

 blackish with the conspicuous scales., elongating in fruit to 2J'. 



5. S. eriocepbala, Michx. (Silkt-headbd Willow.) Leaves ob- 

 long-oval, acute, rounded or tapering at base, sparingly and irregularly toothed ; 

 stipules semilunar, toothed ; catkins densdy flowered, thickly covered with long shin- 

 ing luiirs ; scales of the- sterile ones round-obovate, obtuse ; ovary conspicuously stalked, 

 downy. (S. prinoides, Parsh 9 S. crissa, Barratt.) — Lowmeadows and swamps. 

 — Closely resembles tlie last ; but the aments are more compact and silky, and 

 the scales rounder. 



* * Ovary stalked, silky-gray, shining : catkins ovoid or cylindrical, with a few small 

 leaf-like bracts at the base : leaves finely and evenly serrate, silky-gray or glaucous 

 beneath, drying black : stipules varying from linear to semilunar, toothed, very decid- 

 uous. — Shrubs. 



6. S. sericea, Marshall. (Silky-leaved Willow.) Leaves lanceolate, 

 pointed, downy above, grayish underneath with short silky hairs; sterile catkins 

 small; the fertile narrowly cyli-adrical, closely flowered ; scales obtuse, round-obo 



