1490
ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM.
FART III,
Monandrse is the name adopted for this group in Hook. Br. Fl., ed. 3.; but Mr. Borrer considersPurptireae preferable, because it is taken, like the name of each of the other groups in this ar-rangement, from the name of a species included in that group, Purptirese, too, is the name givenby Koch to the same group.
Filament 1, bearing an anther of 4 lobes, and 4 cells; or, in S. rubra, forked,and each branch bearing an anther of 2 lobes and 2 cells. Germen sessile.Catkins very compact. Trees of low stature, or shrubs with twiggy branches,and leaves that are more or less lanceolate, and serrated, and often broaderupwards. Interior part of the bark, in most, yellow and very bitter.(Hook. Br. Fl.) The leaves of nearly all of the kinds of this group turnblack in drying. The inner bark of most of the kinds included in this groupis extremely bitter, which renders the plants suitable for banks of rivers,and other places which are infested by rats; as the bitterness preventsthese animals from eating it.
a 1. S. purpu'rea L. The purple Willow.
Identification. Lin. Sp. PI,, 1444.; Smith Eng. Bot., 1.1388.: Eng . Fl., 4, p. 187-; Forbes in Sal.Wob., No. 1.; Hook. Br. Fl., ed. 3., p. 417- ; Mackay Fl. Hibern., pt. 1. p. 243. ; Hayne Abbild,
The Sexes. Both sexes are figured in Eng. Bot. 3 and are in cultivation in some English collections.
Synonymc. S. purpurea a Koch Comm., p. 25.
Engravings . Eng . Bot., t. 1318.; Sal. Wob., No. 1.; Hayne Abbild., 1.169.; our fig. 1294.; and
Jig. 1. in p. 1603.
Spec. Char., $c. Branches trailing, decumbent. Leaves partly opposite,obovate-lanceolate, serrated, very smooth, narrow at the base. Stamen 1.Stigmas very short, ovate, nearly sessile. ( Smith Eng. Fl.) A native ofBritain (between Thorpe and Norwich, &c.); floweringin March and April. In a wild state, this species forms ashrub, with a stem 3 ft. or 4 ft. high, with long, slender,smooth branches, spreading widely, and, if not supported,trailing on the ground; very smooth, of a rich and shiningpurple, with a somewhat glaucous hue. The catkinsappear earlier than the foliage; and often on differentbranches. In cultivation, in dug grounds kept moistand the plants cut down yearly, this species producesshoots from 3 ft. to 5 ft. long, which are much esteemedfor the finer sorts of basketwork. It is also frequentlyplanted in Norfolk and Suffolk, and in some parts ofEssex, for “plaiting into close low fences, for the ex-clusion of hares and rabbits; the bark and leaves being so extremelybitter, that these animals will touch neither; whilst the shoots, being long,tough, and flexible, may be formed into any shape; and a fence of this kindis reckoned little inferior to that of wire.” (Eng . Flora, quoted in Sal. Wo»ip. 2.) This species is well adapted for planting in ornamental shrubberies,from the elegant slenderness of its twigs during winter ; the redness of it*catkins, the anthers of which are of that colour before they burst, and thefine purplish and glaucous hue of its young shoots and leaves. The latter,as will be seen by the figure of one of the natural size in p. 1603., are oan elegant, and, if we may use the expression, artistical shape.plants are in the Hackney and Goldworth arboretums, and at Wobuand Flitwick; and male and female at Henfield. The male plant, being®most beautiful when in flower, ought to be most propagated by nurserymen'
Varieties. Koch, in his Tie Salicibus Europteis Comment atm, has described six; but ^ ei f„ c ] n l hutsoi/fclix and Lambertiana (to be described as species below) as two of them. He vssterised the six varieties as follows : —
1294