SALICACE^. (willow FAMILY.) 463 



ovary densely silky. —Low meadows and river-banks : common . — A large shrub 

 or small tree, 8° -15° high. Young leaves commonly obtuse and pubescent, 

 at length becoming smooth and whitish-glaucous beneath, Stipules on vigor- 

 ous shoots equalling the petiole, often inconspicuous. Young catkins 1 ^' long, 

 glossy, blackish with the conspicuous scales, elongating in fruit to 2^'. — S. eri- 

 ocephala, Michx., admitted in former editions, is of this species. 



* * Ovary stalked, silky-hoary and shining : catkins with a few small leaf-like bracts 



at their base ; leaves finely and evenly serrate, silky-gray or glaucous beneath, 

 drying dark : stipules varying from litiear to semilunar, toothed, very deciduous. 

 Shr'uhs, 3° -10° high. 



5. S. sericea, Marshall. (Silky W.) Zeaw«s lanceolate, pointed, downy 

 above, grayish underneath with short silky hairs ; sterile catkins small, globular ; 

 the fertile cylindrical, closely flowered ; scales obtuse, round-obovate, as long as the 

 stalk of the densely-silky ovoid ovary ; stigma sessile. (S. grisea, Wiltd.) — Sandy 

 river-banks : common. Tertile catkins, at length 1' long; the pods not spread- 

 ing or elongating in fruit, thus appearing sessile. 



6. S. petioltois, Smith. (Petioled W.) Leaves lanceolate, pointed, 

 smooth above, slightly silky beneath when young, at length smooth and glaucous ; fer- 

 tile catkins ovoid-cylindrical; scales acute, very hairy, scarcely as long as the stalk 

 of the silky tapering ovary ; style distinct ; stigma 2-clefi.. ( S. rosmarinifolia, and 

 S. fusc&ta, Pursh. ?) — Same situations as the last, which this resembles ; but 

 the mature leaves are not silky beneath, nor so blackish in drying ; the scales 

 not so dark, and clothed with longer white hair ; fertile catkins shorter and 

 broader ; the pods spreading and showing the stalks. 



• * » Ovary sessile or almost so ; downy : catkins bracted at the base. Small trees. 



1- Filaments and often the reddish anthers united, so as to appear as one. 



7. S. PUEPtiHEA, L. (Purple W.) Leaves oblanceolate, pointed, smooth, 

 minutely and sparingly toothed ; catkins cylindrical ; scales round and concave, 

 very black; stigmas nearly sessile ; ovary sessile. ( S. Lambertiana, PursA.) — 

 Low grounds. — Twigs olive-colored or reddish. (Adv. 'from Eu.) 



■I- ■)- Filaments separate. 



8. S. viminXlis, L. (Basket Osiek.) Leaves linear-lanceolate, very long, 

 (3' -6'), taper-pointed, entire or obscurely crenate, lustrous white and satiny be- 

 neath ; sterile catkins oblong, the fertile cylindrical, silky-hairy ; style elongated ; 

 stigmas linear, mostly entire. — Wet meadows. — Considered the best species 

 for basket-work. — S. Smithikna, Willd. (thought to be a hybrid of this with 

 some other species), differing principally in the somewhat broader leaves, is 

 also occasionally met with. (Adv. from Eu.) 



§ 2. Catkins lateral, with i- 5 leafy bracts at the base, appearing with or before the 

 leaves in May or June : inner membrane of the scales of flowering buds separating 

 from the cartilaginous exterior, sometimes raised on the apex of the bursting cat- 

 kins : ovary slender-stalked, smooth {under a lens granular, with occasionally a 

 few short hairs at the base) : stamens 2 ; scales dark or black, hairy, persistent. 



9. S. cordita, Muhl. (Heabt-leaved W.) Leaves lanceolate or ovate- 

 lancoolate, heart-shaped, truncate, or even acute at base, taper-pointed, sharply 



