CHAP. C1II.

•SALICa'CE/E. sa'jlix.

J 551

Synonymes. S. mollissima Smith FI. Brit., p. 1070., exclusively of the synonymes, Eng. Bot., t. 1509.,Rees's Cyclo. ; S. acumimlta, with narrower leaves, Koch Comm., p. 31.; S. acuminata 3 Limit.Synop., p. 233.

The Sexes. The female is described in Eng. FI., and figured in Eng. Bot. and Sal. Wob.

Engravings. Eng. Bot., 1.1509.; Sal. Wob., No. 134., the female ; and our Jig. 134. in p. 1629.

Spec. Char., §c. Leaves lanceolate, pointed, slightly wavy, minutely toothed;soft and downy above, but the down scarcely visible; whitish and silkybeneath. Stipules long, narrow. Catkins ovate. Germen stalked. Styleshorter than the linear deeply divided stigmas. ( Smith Eng. FI.) “ In myspecimens the ovaries and bracteas are remarkably shaggy.” (Hook in Br. FI.,ed. 2.) A native of England, in meadows and osier grounds; commonin the woods in the neighbourhood of Woburn; and flowering in Marchand April. “ Branches erect, wand-like, round, long, slender, reddish,leafy, smooth, finely downy and soft when young; brittle, and unfit forbasketwork. Leaves on shortish downy footstalks, lanceolate, 3 in. or 4 in.long, tapering to a point; the margin wavy, or slightly crenated, withminute teeth here and there, especially towards the point; the upper sidegreen, delicately soft to the touch, with extremely minute, almost invisible,close, silky down; under side paler, whitish, densely silky, and likewisepeculiarly soft; the midrib and slender veins reddish, rather less downy.Catkins appearing before the leaves, numerous, small.” (Smith.) S. Smith-idna is without merit in the economical application of its rods. (Id.)There are plants at Woburn Abbey, at Henfield, and at the GoldworthArboretum : also, under the name of S. mollissima, at Messrs. Loddiges’s.

*t 78. S. molli'ssima Ehrh. The softest -surfaced Willow, or Osier.

Identification. Ehrh. Beitr., 6. p. 101.; Willd. Sp. PI., 4. p. 707.; Wahlenb. FI. Carpat., p. 317. j? Hayne Abbild., p. 252.; Koch Comm., p. 28.

Sy>onyme. S. pilbera Koch apud Bonninghausen FI. Monaster.

The Sexes. The female is described in the specific character. Koch has noted that he had not seenthe male.

Engraving. ? Hayne Abbild., 1.195., the female.

Spec. Char.,8fc. Leaves lanceolate, acuminate, repatidly toothed with distant minute teeth ; whenyoung, having the under surface finely tomentose. Stipules ovate, acute. Catkins sessile, or upona short twiglet seeming a peduncle, and bearing small leaves at the base of the catkin. Capsuleovately conical, tomentose, sessile. Gland reaching higher than the base of the ovary. Style elon-gated. Stigmas linear, bifid, reaching as high as the hairs of the bracteas. (Koch.) It is easilydistinguished from S. vimindlis by the down of the leaves being finer, yellowish, and not shining jthe flowers more loosely disposed in the catkin ; the bracteas of a yellowish rusty colour, and bytheir hairs being of a dull white, and of the length of the stigmas. In S. viminalis the leaves arewhite, and silky beneath j the bracteas of a very dark brown, and have silvery hairs j and the stig-mas are undivided, and extend beyond the hairs of the bracteas. S. mollissima grows wild uponbanks of rivers, and contiguously to water, in the north of Germany, in Silesia, and in the north ofHungary. (Koch.) A native of Germany.

as ? It 79. S. holoserTcea Hook., ? Willd. The velvety, or “ soft-shaggy-Jlowered,” Willow, or Osier.

Identification. Hook. Br. FL, ed. 2., p.'42I.; Bluff! and Fing. FI. Germ., 2. p. 565. (Hook.); ? Willd.Sp. FI., 4. p. 708. (Hook.) ; ? Hayne Abbild., p. 253.; ? Smith in Rees’s Cyclo., No. 137.; ? KochComm., p. 34.

Synonymes. S. Smithfdwa rugdsa, quoted as a name extant by Forbes in Sal. Wob., No. 134. ; ? S.acuminata, the var. mentioned by Smith in Eng. FI., 4. p. 228.; S. acuminata var. rugbsa SmithMSS., and probably S. riibra of Walker's Essays, p. 443. (Borrer in a letter.) I believe that thevelvet osier is S. liolosericea Willd.

The Sexes. The male is figured in Sal. Wob. ; the female is described in the Specific Character, S(C.

Engravings. Hayne Abbild., 1.196. (the sex is the male) Sal. Wob., No. 134., in which the malecatkin only is figured.

Spec. Char., Sjc. Leaves lanceolate, acuminate, serrated; glabrous above;pale, downy, and strongly veined beneath. Catkins cylindrical. Ovariesstalked, densely clothed with silky wool. Stigmas ovate, sessile. Bracteasvery shaggy, black. (Hook. Br. FI.) Wild about Lewes, Sussex. Mr.Borrer thinks that this is probably allied to the S. holosericea Willd., anddistinguishes it from S. acuminata Smith by its sessile pale-coloured stigmas,and leaves greener and more rugoseabove, and more strongly veined beneath.(Ibid.) S. holosericea Willd. is noticed by Smith (Eng. FI., iv. p. 230.), asa native of Germany, not so of Britain. It is recorded in the Hortus Bri-tannicus, as introduced into Britain in 1822. Smith has remarked, besides,that, he believes a kind of osier, called the velvet osier, to be identicalwith S. holosericea Willd., and that the velvet osier is much valued for