396 
LXXXV. SALICACE^E. 
\_Alnus. 
cose than in the common appearance : it is not unfrequent in the 
Highlands of Scotland, and generally known by the name of the 
drooping or weeping birch. There is also another with the young 
shoots and peduncles downy, which seems to be B. pubescens Lhrh. 
The lateral lobes of the catkin-scales vary, beinsr either erect or 
spreading, or even decurved, particularly in the drooping birch; and 
although we have admitted the two extremes to marie our varieties, 
we cannot admit such to be of specific importance. 
2. B. ndna L. (dwarf B.) ; leaves orbicular obtusely crenate 
glabrous, catkin scales tritid, fruit orbicular with a narrow 
margin. E. B. t. 2326- 
In several parts of the Highlands of Scotland. Rare in the Low- 
lands. Tj. 5. — A small shrubby plant not exceeding 1 — 2 feet in 
height. Leaves on short footstalks. Fertile catkins at the extremity 
of the branches, small ; their scales cleft to the middle or sometimes 
to near the base, variable in the same specimen. 
2. A'ntics Tnurn. Alder. 
Barren fl. Scale of the catkin 3-lobed, with 3 flowers. Peri- 
anth 4-part, ite. Siam. 4. — Fertile fl. Scale of the catkin sub- 
trifid, with 2 flowers. Perianth 0. Ovary with 4 minute scales 
at its base. Fruit without a membranous margin, com- 
pressed. — Name: derived by Theis from the Celtic, al, near, 
and lan, a river ; but more probably from the Hebrew aelon, a 
rigorous tree, and usually applied to the oak. 
1. A. glutinosa Gmrtn. (common A.) ; leaves roundish-cunei- 
form obtuse lobed at the margin and serrate somewhat glu- 
tinous downy in the axils of the nerves beneath. Betula Alnus 
L .: E. B. t. 1508. 
Wet meadows and moist grounds by water, frequent. h • 3 — 4. 
— Sterile catkins long, large, and cylindrical, pendent, their footstalks 
branched. Fertile catkins small, ovate, with deep-red scales. 
Okd. LXXXV. SALICACEiE Rich. 
Flowers dioecious, all amentaceous. — Barren fl. Perianth 
0 (replaced by 1 — 2 nectariferous glands), or oblique and entire. 
Stamens 2 — 30 : anthers 2-celled. — Fertile fl. Perianth 0 or 
turbinate. Ovary free, 1 -celled, with numerous erect ovules 
attached to the bottom of the cell or to the base of 2 parietal 
placentas. Style 1 or 0. Stigmas 2, entire or cleft. Fruit 
coriaceous, 1 -celled (or by the inflexion of the edges of the valves 
somewhat 2-celled), 2-valved, many seeded. Seeds erect, mi- 
nute, covered with long silky hairs springing from their base. 
Albumen 0. Embryo erect; radicle inferior. — Trees or shrubs. 
Leaves alternate . , simple, with often glands on their edge or on 
the petiole. Stipules deciduous or persistent, sometimes none. 
