THE WILLOWS OF OHIO. 277 



more sharply pointed and never pubescent. While both have a 

 bloom on the under surfaces, S. longlpes is gray glaucous and 

 5\ amygdaloides bluish glaucous. Besides all this their ranges 

 do not overlap in Ohio. 



In fruit it is easily distinguishable from either of the other 

 Amygdaleneae. The capsules are similar to those of S. nigra 

 but larger and long pedicelled like those of 5. amygdaloides. 



Salix amygdaloides Anders. Peach-leaved Willow. 



Salix amygdaloides grows to medium sized or rarely to a 

 large tree. Its bark and general appearance suggest at once its 

 affinity for the black willow of which it was once considered a 

 variety. Its habit, however, differs very considerably from 

 that of Salix nigra. It is generally single-stemmed and very 

 shapely, with clean branches and darker brown, smoother bark. 

 The winter buds are nearly twice as large as those of Salix nigra, 

 dark brown above with a much lighter base where they were pro- 

 tected by the petiole of the old leaf in the fall. Salix amygda- 

 loides is well-named for when in leaf the tree, at a little distance, 

 often bears a striking resemblance to a peach tree ; the twigs and 

 petioles are often reddened and the leaf arrangement is similar to 

 that of a peach tree. Both twigs and leaves are entirely devoid 

 of hairs while young shoots, at least, of the other black willows 

 are pubescent. 



The leaves are much broader than in the other members of 

 the. amygdalenae, often being almost ovate, distinctly broadest 

 below the middle with a rounded base and an attenuate falcate 

 tip, bright green above, glaucous beneath. The venation while 

 of the black willow type begins to approach the regular type, ex- 

 emplified by 5. alba; the primaries are close, the marginal vein 

 short, hardly extending as far as the middle of the leaf, and 

 the meshwork, though very fine is much coarser than in Salix 

 nigra, while the secondaries are often more or less regular. 



The catkins are so similar to those of the black willow that 

 it is difficult to distinguish them in dried specimens. With the 

 carpellate aments the difficulty disappears in fruit but with the 

 staminate it continues in old flowers. The brightening of the 

 bark at flowering time, which is noticeable in all willows renders 

 the twigs in Salix nigra very similar to those of the present species 

 and its smaller buds are swollen to about the size o those of the 

 Peach-leaved willow so that they can be used as a diagnostic 

 character no longer. The leaves supporting the catkins are too 

 young to have assumed their characteristic texture and the 

 aments themselves are almost the same. But Salix amygdaloi- 

 des /lowers nearly two weeks earlier than Salix nigra, which to- 

 gether with the habits should distinguish them in most cases. 



