1540

ARBORETUM ANI) FRUTICETUM.

PART III.

This species is readily distinguished from the remaining ones be-longing to this section (with the exception of S. incubacea), by itsvery silvery leaves and upright mode of growth. Both sexes aredescribed in Eng. Ft.; the female is figured in Sal. Wob. and HayneAbbild. There are plants at Woburn Abbey, Henfield, and FlitwickHouse, and also in the Goidworth Arboretum.

& 53. S. Don ia' If a Smith.

Don’s, or the rusty-brancked, Willow'.

, No. 85. ; Hook. Br. FI., ed.

Identification. Smith in Eng. FI., 4. p. 213.; Forbes in Sal. Wob.,p. 424.; Borrer in Eng. Bot. Suppl., t. 2599.

The Sexes. The female is described and figured in Sal. Wob. and Eng. Bot. The male has not yetbeen discovered.

Engravings. Sal. Wob., No. 85.; Eng. Bot., t. 2599.; our fig. 1322 j and fig. 85. in p. 1618.

Spec. Char., §c., Leaves obovate-lanceolate, partly opposite, acute, slightlyserrated, even ; livid and somewhat silky beneath. Stipules linear. Brancheserect. Catkins erect, cylindrical. Ovary stalked, silky, longer than theobovate bearded bractea. (Smith and Borrer.') Sent fromScotland, as British, by the late Mr. George Don. Itflowers in May. Stem 5 ft. or 6 ft. high, with straight,wand-like, round, leafy branches, of a reddish or rustybrown, scarcely downy, except when very young. Leavesmostly alternate, but several of the lowermost pairs oppo-site; all nearly upright, flat; ljin. long, uniform; broadest,and most evidently serrated, in their upper part, towardsthe point; green, minutely veiny, and glabrous above ; livid,or in some measure glaucous, as well as finely downy or silky, beneath,with a prominent reddish midrib, and slender veins; the silkiness less evi-dent on the older ones. Footstalks short, very broad at the base, palerthan the branches. Catkins of female flowers appearing before theleaves, on short lateral stalks. (Smith.) S. Donidna, in the female, which isthe only sex at present known to British botanists, assimilates to the kindsof the group Purpurem, except S. rubra Huds., in the aspect of the branches,shoots, leaves, and catkins; in some of the leaves being opposite; and inthe old bark being internally yellow, though less remarkably so than that ofthese kinds; but it differs from them in having its leaves silky beneath,and its ovary stalked, and Mr. Borrer believes that, in the relation ofaffinity, it is nearest to S. fusca ; but he notices that we are without themeans of proof, which the male flowers would afford. There are plantsat Woburn Abbey, Henfield, and Flitwick House, and in the GoidworthArboretum.

1322

Group xii. Ambigua; Borrer.

Shrubs.

S. finmarchica Willd. has been added to kinds included in this group by Mr.Borrer.

36 54. S. ambi'gua Ehrh., Borrer. The ambiguous Willow.

Identification. Borrer in Eng. Bot. Suppl., t. 2733., who has adduced there the following references :—“ Ehrh.; Willd. Sp. PI., 4. p. 700.; Hook. Br. FI., ed. 2., p. 418.; Koch Comm., p. 49. ; Bluff, etFing. FI. Germ., 2.561.”

Synonymes. Some are cited under the varieties treated of below ; 5. ambigua Koch , part of, KochComm., p. 49.

The Sexes. Both sexes of var. «, the female of var. /3, the male of var. y, and the female of var. S,are figured in Eng. Bot. Suppl.

Engraving. Engl. Bot. Suppl., t. 2733.

Spec. Char., fyc. Leaves oval, obovate, or lanceolate, slightly toothed, and having a recurved point;pubescent, somewhat rugose above, glaucous and having prominent veins beneath. Stipules half-ovate, acute. Catkins stalked, upright, cylindrical. Ovary stalked, densely silky. Style veryshort. Stigmas short, at length cloven. ( Borr. in Bot. Suppl.) Indigenous on gravelly heaths, inSussex, Essex, and Suffolk; and has been observed in Perthshire, Angusshire, Caithness, Orkney,