Localities. — In low meadows, about the banks of rivers and watery ditches; 
not common.— Oxfordsh. Side of the ditch round Christ Church Meadow; 
undoubtedly planted there: W. B.— Beds, Thurleigh : Rev. C. Abbot.— Cam- 
bridgesk. Sides of ditches : llev. R. Reliian. — Devon. Sides of streams, occa- 
sionally : FI. Devon. — Leicestersh. In moist woods, and withy beds; Dr. 
Pulteney. — Norfolk ; In meadows between Norwich and Thorpe : Mr. Crowe. 
King-street Meadows, Norwich: ib.—Northamptonsh. Peakirk ; andThurnby : 
Martyn. — Surrey ; Between Vauxhall and Nine Kims, by the Thames side: 
Martyn. — Yorkshsh. About Beverley: Tf.esdale. Near Nunwick by Ripon: 
Mr. Brunton. In low grounds between Beverley and Hull: Mr. Baines. — 
SCOTLAND. Dumfriesshire; Banks of the Esk, near Netherby ; in Esk- 
dale: Lightfoot. — Forfarsh. In the lower parts of the count/: Mr. Don. — 
Roxburghsh. North bank of the Tweed, opposite Melrose : Mr. Maughan. — 
IRELAND. Sea-side, county ofMayo: Mack. Catal. About Newtownards, 
and between Stewartstown and Moneymore: Mr. Templeton. Ditch-bank 
near Garvagh, county of Derry: Mr. D. Moore. 
A Shrub. — Flowers in February and March. 
Stem 3 or 4 feet high, with long, slender branches, spread- 
ing widely, and, if not supported, trailing on the ground, very 
smooth, of a rich and shining purple, with a somewhat glaucous 
hue. Leaves partly opposite, partly alternate, on short, smooth 
petioles, without stipulas, spear-shaped, broadest above the middle, 
tapering below, slightly serrated, smooth, of a glaucous green, espe- 
cially on the under side. The catkins appear earlier than the leaves, 
and often on different branches; they are about an inch long, 
cylindrical, and bluntish ; their scales inversely egg-shaped, hairy, 
and black in their upper half. Nectary a single gland opposite to 
each scale. Filament always solitary, simple, smooth, and about 
twice the length of the scale. Anther tawny, of 4 lobes, and as 
many cells. Germen (fig. 4.) sessile, small, broadly elliptical, silky, 
rather longer than its scale, which is shorter than that of the sterile 
flower (fig. 2). Style scarcely any till after flowering, when it is 
slightly protruded. Stigmas egg-shaped, thick, blunt, permanent. 
Capsules (figs. 5 & 6.) hoary, densely downy. fSm. Engl. FI.) 
This, according to Sir J. E. Smith, is a very valuable Osier for fine basket-work, 
but more especially for platting into low close fences, to keep out hares and rabbits, 
the leaves and bark being so intensely bitter, that those animals will not touch 
either. The twigs are so long, tough, and flexible, that they may be interwoven 
into any shape ; and a fence of this kind is scarcely inferior to one made of wire. 
The Natural Order Salicinea: is composed of dicotyledonous 
trees or shrubs, whose leaves are alternate, simple, and furnished 
with deciduous or persistent stipules. The flowers are separated, 
and are either monoecious, or dioecious ; and collected into cylin- 
drical or egg-shaped catkins. The sterile flowers are composed of 
from 1 to 20 stamens, placed in the axilla of a scale-like calyx 
( bractea of some authors), or upon its upper surface. The fertile 
flowers consist of a fusiform germen, with a simple style, terminated 
by two, notched or 2-parted, stigmas, situated in the axilla of a 
scale-like calyx. The fruit is coriaceous, 1- or 2-celled, contain- 
ing many seeds surrounded by long silky hairs, and opening by 
two valves. The embryo is erect, and the radicle inferior. — The 
bark of the Salicinece is generally astringent and tonic. It is em- 
ployed in tanning ; and that of some species, especially of Salix 
purpurea, S. Helix, and S. Russelliana, has acquired celebrity as a 
substitute for Peruvian bark in fevers. The only British genera 
in this order are Salix and Populus. - 
