FOREST TREES. 



217 



by Dr. Bebb, in Botany of California, viz. Var. typica, var. 

 lancifolia, and var. Fendleriana. A tree twenty to sixty feet 

 high. Sacramento Valley, California, and northward to British 

 Columbia. Some of the varieties extend eastward to New 

 Mexico. 



S. lasiolepis. — Benth. — Leaves oblanceolate, or rarely oblong- 

 lanceolate, four to six inches long, one half to one inch wide, 

 the lower ones spatulate, more or less pubescent, especially 

 when young ; catkins sessile, one to three inches long, cylindri- 

 cal, densely flowered, stamens yellow, three times as long as 

 the scales. Var. Bigelovii, Bebb., has leaves more obovate than 

 the species, and var. fallax, Bebb. Leaves lanceolate-oblong, 

 abruptly contracted at base. A large tree, forty to sixty feet 

 high in the neighborhood of San Francisco, and southward in 

 CaUfornia. Said to be a common tree throughout the State. 



€. Incidaj Muhl. — Shining Willow. — Leaves ovate-oblong, or 

 lanceolate, with a long, tapering point, smooth and shining on 

 both sides, serrate. A handsome species of willow, rarely more 

 than twenty feet high, along the banks of streams from Penn- 

 sylvania, northward through British America. 



S. nigra, Marshall. — Black Willow. — Leaves narrowly-lanceo- 

 late, pointed and tapering at each end, serrate, smooth, except 

 on the petioles and midrib, bright green on both sides. A small 

 tree, twenty to forty feet high, with a rough, black bark, hence 

 the specific name. A rare tree in Northern New England and 

 Canada, but more common south and west, extending entirely 

 across the continent, being plentiful in California. 



FOREIG]^ SPECIES AKD VARIETIES. 



Among the foreign species of the willow, there are quite a 

 number that are better known and far more common in culti- 

 vation than any of our native species, in fact, it may be said 

 that our indigenous willows are almost unknown among culti- 

 vated trees and shrubs, while several of the foreign ones may 

 be seen in almost every garden, park, or pleasure ground in the 

 country. The old and familiar Weeping Willow must have been 

 introduced at a very early period in our history, for very old 

 and very large trees of it may be seen in all of our older States, 

 and specimens with stems four to six feet in diameter, near the 

 ground, are far from being rare or uncommon, and while this 

 tree is of little or no economic value, it has long been a favorite 

 ornamental tree for planting about i)onds, churches, and in 

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