302 OHIO STATE ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 



Salix sericea Marsh. Silky Willow. 



A shrub seldom 5 m. tall, with straggling branches generally 

 lopping over onto the ground, forming clumps very similar in 

 appearance to those of Salix cordata, buds similar to those of 

 that species but without the loose inner membrane, twigs also 

 similar but very brittle at the base. Leaves narrowly lanceolate, 

 cuneate or rounded at the base, sharply serrate to almost entire, 

 rather dark green and glabrous above, typically dull, below sub- 

 glaucous, silvery sericeate (rarely somewhat ferruginous or glab- 

 rate when old) with lustrous hair which reflects the light irregu- 

 larly at different angles almost like changeable silk; venation 

 very similar to that of Salix cordata but the primaries ascend less 

 rapidly toward the margin than in narrow leaves of that species, 

 the looping is more prominent and blunter or sometimes, even 

 the primaries are quite irregular. Catkins opening before the 

 leaves, supported by a few small green bracts or unbracted, 

 10-30 mm. long, very dense, scales dark and pilose at the tip, 

 light below, anthers generally red, capsule short conic or ovoid, 

 obtuse, silvery sericeate even when ripe, not more than 4 mm. 

 long, style short but distinct, pedicel about half as long as the 

 ripe capsule. 



Salix sericea prefers boggy land and is so common that it 

 may be found in almost any swamp in the state but it seldom 

 grows along river banks with Salix cordata. 



The greatest difficulty in defining Salix sericea is to separate 

 it from 5. petiolaris, see below, and from S. cordata. In both 

 cases the carpellate aments are entirely diagnostic and it is with 

 the leafy specimens that the difficulty occurs. The leaves of 

 Salix cordata are ordinarily wider than those of S. sericea and 

 broadest below the middle while in this species the greatest 

 width is near the middle; the serrations are sharper and finer in 

 S. cordata and the leaves of 5. cordata do not blacken in drying. 

 But most important of all are the silvery hairs below which dif- 

 ferentiate it from everything else. In old specimens, however, 

 they are sometimes almost absent and in such cases it frequently 

 becomes almost impossible to separate them. 



Salix sericea subsericea, (Anders.) Rydb. is the name that 

 has been given to the form of the present species which connects 

 it with 5. petiolaris. It is characterized by leaves much less pu- 

 bescent than the typical form and less dull or even subglossy on 

 the upper surface so that from leaf characters alone it cannot be 

 distinguished from that species. It is very common in our area, 

 see under 5. petiolaris. 



