46 
BLACK WILLOW. 
which disappears at the approach of summer. The leaves commonly con- 
sist of 2 pair of leaflets with a terminal odd one. The leaflets are large, 
nearly round, petiolated and distinctly toothed. The flowers, as in the 
other species, are small and not very conspicuous; the seeds, unlike those 
of any Ash with which we are acquainted, are flat, oval, and broader than 
they are long. 
From its inferior dimensions the Carolinian Ash is totally neglected ; hut 
accurate experiments on the nature of different species of wood in America 
will perhaps evince that this tree, as well as others that are regarded as 
worthless, possesses properties of eminent utility. 
PLATE C XXI Y. 
A branch of half the natural size. Fig. 1, Seeds of the natural size. 
BLACK WILLOW- 
Amentaceæ. Juss. 
Salix nigra. S.foliis lanceolatis, acuminatis , serratis , glabris ; petiolis pubes- 
centibus. 
This species is the most common of the American Willows, and the most 
analogous to that of Europe. It is less multiplied in the Northern and 
Southern than in the Middle and especially in the Western States. It is 
found on the banks of the great rivers, such as the Susquehanna and the 
Ohio, and is called Black Willow, or simply Willow. 
The Black Willow is rarely more than 30 or 35 feet high and 12 or 15 
inches in diameter. It divides at a small height into several divergent but 
not pendent limbs, and forms a spacious summit. The leaves are long, 
narrow, finely denticulated, of a light green, and destitute of stipulæ. In 
the uniformity of its coloring the foliage of this species differs from that of 
the European Willow, the lower surface of which is glaucous. 
