SALIX 
63 
One of the forms, however, deserves special mention, as it was produced artificially by Max Wichura (Jahr.-Ber. 
Schles. Gesellsch. Vaterl. Kult. 160 — 164 (1853)). Wichura crossed S. caprea $ with 5 . viminalis and the result, 
he states, was S. acuminata. Several closely allied plants have been named S. acuminata ; but, as Wichura worked in 
Wimmer’s garden, the presumption is that the form produced was S. viminalis-caprea f. acuminata Wimmer in Flora xxxii, 42 
(1849) which is referred by Kerner to his * S. sericans. 
Wichura took very elaborate — but very necessary — precautions to ensure that no foreign pollen reached his pistillate 
plants. This is remarkable, for Wichura’s work was done sixteen years before the publication of Mendel’s results. No 
accidental hybrid-products could arise as a result of Wichura’s experiments. Thus, we may be certain that, although S. 
caprea and S. viminalis are not at all closely related species, yet they form hybrids without difficulty. 
Wichura adds that as the two parents ( S . caprea and 5 . viminalis ) differ greatly from each other, especially in the 
shape of the leaves, this willow (S. caprea x viminalis ) appears, owing to its intermediate characters, to be, more than 
most hybrids, a distinct species. “The proof,” he concludes, “of the hybridity of its nature is the most beautiful con- 
firmation that the doctrine of hybrids among willows could receive.” A French translation of Max Wichura’s paper is 
to be found in Schultz’s Arch, de Flore , pp. 91 — 99 (1855). 
(B) x 5 . smithiana Wimmer Sal. Eur. 179 (1866) emend.; 5 . smithiana 1 Willdenow Enum. Hort. Berol. 
1008 (1809); Smith Eng. FI. iv, 229 (1828)!; Syme Eng. Bot. viii, 226 (1828)!; 5 . mollissima Smith FI. Brit. 
1070 (1804) 2 ! non Ehrhart ; S', sericans Tausch in Flora xxi, 754 (1838); x S. sericans A. Kerner in Verhandl. 
Z.-B. Gesellsch. Wien 214 (i860); x S. smithiana var. sericans Andersson in DC. Prodr. xvi, pt. ii, 267 (1868); 
White in Journ. Linn. Soc. xxvii, 417 (1890); S. acuminata auct. pi., nec Smith nec Koch. 
leones: — Smith Eng. Bot. t. 1509 (the catkins are very young; and the leaves are of a summer shoot) as 
S. mollissima ; Forbes Sal. Woburn, t. 134, as S. smithiana ; Reichenbach Icon. t. 600, fig. 1251, as S. smithiana. 
Camb. Brit. FI. ii. Plate 63. (a) Shoot with pistillate catkins, (b) Barren shoot, (c) Pistillate flowers 
(enlarged), (d) Bract (enlarged). Huntingdonshire (E. W. H.). 
Exsiccata : — Leefe, 25, 26, as S. smithiana ; 27, 28, as S. smithiana ? ; Tausch (PI. Select. Boh.) as 
S. sericans. 
Bracts shorter in proportion to the length of the ovary than in x S. acuminata. Style longer 
in proportion to the length of the stigmas. 1 he two forms ( x S. smithiana and x S. acuminata ), 
however, are connected by intermediates. 
Smith (Eng. FI. iv, 230 (1828)) states that this willow proves to be of no utility as an osier; and probably the remark 
is applicable to all the hybrids of S. viminalis with the members of the series Capreae. 
(C) x 5 . acuminata Andersson in DC. Prodr. xvi, pt. ii, 268 (1868); White in Journ , Linn. Soc. xxvii, 420 
(1890); non Wimmer; S. acuminata Smith FI. Brit. 1068 (1804)! excluding syn. Miller et syn. Hoffman; Eng. 
FI. iv, 227 (1828); Koch Sal. Comment. 30 (1828) 3 ; Syme Eng. Bot. viii 229 (1868); S. dasyclados Wimmer 
in Flora xxxii, 35 (1849)!; v. Seemen in Ascherson und Graebner Syn. iv, 177 (1909) excluding subsp. stipularis 
p. 180; S', caprea x dasyclados Wimmer in Denkschr. Schles. Gesellsch. 163 (1853); v. Seemen in Ascherson und 
Graebner Syn. iv, 271 (1909); x 5 . calodendron Wimmer Sal. Eur. 187 (1866); S', (cinerea x viminalis) caprea A. et 
G. Camus Classif. Saul, ii, 265 (1905) including (B) x S. calodendron. 
leones: — Smith Eng. Bot. t. 1434, as S', acuminata ; Forbes Sal. Woburn, t. 131, as S. acuminata. 
Camb. Brit. FI. ii. Plate 64.. (a) Shoot with pistillate catkins, (b) Barren shoot, (c) Pistillate flowers. 
(d) Bract, (e) Pistillate flowers (enlarged), (f) Bract (enlarged). Huntingdonshire (E. W. H.). 
Exsiccata: — Leefe, 37 (“certissime dasyclados" Andersson 4 ), ii, 27, as S. acuminata. 
Bracts longer in proportion to the length of the ovary than in x S. smithiana. Style shorter 
in proportion to the length of the stigmas. 
Both Andersson and White agree in including S. dasyclados Wimmer (which some authorities still treat as a distinct 
species) in x S', acuminata. 
The plant is sometimes referred to S. cinerea x viminalis , and sometimes to a still more complicated parentage. Max 
Wichura (op. cit. (1865)) surmised that it was a cross of S. caprea , A. cinerea , and S', viminalis. In the absence of 
experimental evidence, any one opinion is almost as valuable as any other. 
[S', caprea x caprea x viminalis A. et G. Camus Classif. Saul, ii, 264 (1905); v. Seemen in Ascherson und Graebner Syn. 
iv, 270 (1909) ; herb. Marshall 3244. 
1 After Sir James Edward Smith (1759 — 1828), the most distinguished of Salicologists. 
2 Smith at first believed his S. mollissima to be S. mollissima Ehrhart. Smith acknowledges his error in Eng. FI., 
where he states (iv, 230) that he has lately discovered S. mollissima Ehrhart to be totally distinct from his own ; “ which 
Willdenow, first perceiving, was pleased to give to our English plant the appellation [ 5 . smithiana ] here adopted.” It is 
therefore clear that S. mollissima Smith and S. smithiana Willdenow are synonymous. 
3 In some works, the citation “ S. acuminata Koch non Smith ” is found : in some other works “ S. acuminata Koch ” 
occurs under one plant and “ S. acuminata Smith” under another. Koch himself states: — “ S. acuminata Smith Brit. 1068 ex 
specimenibus anglicis authentis (nec Hoffmanni, nec Willdenowi, nec omnium authorum [sic\ germanicorum).” 
4 Andersson examined some of Leefe’s specimens in the herbarium of H. C. Watson. The latter published Andersson’s 
notes in Bot. Gaz. iii, 57 (1851). Watson’s plants are now in Herb. Kew. Andersson has also written notes on several other 
specimens in Herb. Kew. 
