Chapter XIV: Section 1: Flowers in unisexual aments (female flowers of Juglans and (2)

A tree, usually 30°—40° high, with usually several clustered stout stems, thick spreading upright branches forming a broad somewhat irregular open head, and reddish brown or gray-brown branchlets pubescent when they first appear, soon glabrous, and easily separated at the joints. Winter-buds acute, about ⅛′ long. Bark 1′—1¼′ thick, dark brown or nearly black and deeply divided into broad flat connected ridges separating freely into thick plate-like scales and becoming shaggy on old trunks. Wood light, soft, weak, light reddish brown, with thin nearly white sapwood; now sawed into lumber in the valley of the lower Mississippi River and largely used for packing cases, cellar and barn floors, in furniture, and in the manufacture of toys and other purposes where strength is not important as it does not warp, check or splinter.

Distribution. Low moist alluvial banks of streams and lakes; southern New Brunswick through southern Quebec and Ontario to the region north of Lake Superior, southward to northern and western North Carolina, through the Piedmont region of South Carolina and Georgia to eastern and central Alabama, and westward to southeastern North Dakota, eastern South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, the valley of Wichita River, Oklahoma, and central and western Texas to Valverde County.

In southern Arkansas, in Louisiana and in eastern Texas _Salix nigra_ is often replaced by var. _altissima_ Sarg., differing from the type in the more pubescent young branchlets, leaves and petioles, in the more acute base of the leaves and longer petioles, and in its later flowering. A tree sometimes 120 feet high and the tallest of American Willows.

Salix nigra var. Lindheimeri Schn.

_Salix Wrightii_ Sarg., not Anders.

Leaves lanceolate, often slightly falcate, long-pointed and acuminate at apex, cuneate at base, finely glandular-serrate, glabrous, light green on the upper surface, paler below, 4′—5′ long, ⅓′—½′ wide; petioles pubescent early in the season, becoming glabrous, ½′—¾′ in length. Flowers: aments slender, densely villose, 2′—3′ long; scales ovate, acute or rarely rounded at apex, covered with matted white hairs, more abundant on the inner surface; stamens 4 or 5; filaments villose below the middle; ovary ovoid, gradually narrowed to the apex, the 2-lobed stigmas nearly sessile. Fruit ovoid-conic; pedicels about ¼′ long.

A tree, 50°—70° high with a trunk often 3° in diameter, large erect spreading branches forming an open irregular head, and slender branchlets light green and slightly pubescent when they first appear, becoming light orange or yellow-brown and lustrous. Bark thick, pale yellow-brown, deeply furrowed, the surface sometimes separating into long plate-like scales.

Distribution. River banks, central and western Texas from Grayson and Dallas Counties and the lower valley of the Brazos River to the valleys of the San Antonio and upper Guadalupe Rivers; in Coahuila, Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas.

2. Salix Gooddingii Ball.

_Salix vallicola_ Britt.

Leaves lanceolate to narrow elliptic-lanceolate, acute or acuminate, acutely cuneate at base, finely glandular-serrate, often slightly falcate, silky pubescent when they unfold especially below, glabrous and dull green at maturity, 1½′—3′ long, ¼′—½′ wide, or on vigorous shoots 5′ or 6′ long and ¾′ wide; petioles pubescent, usually becoming glabrous, ⅙′—¼′ in length; stipules orbicular-cordate, coarsely glandular-serrate, pubescent. Flowers: aments pubescent terminal on leafy pubescent branchlets, narrow-cylindric, 1′—2′ long; scales linear-oblanceolate, acute, yellow, hoary tomentose; stamens 3—5; filaments villose toward the base; ovary ovoid-conic, gradually narrowed to the acuminate apex, pubescent or glabrous; style distinct, 2-lobed. Fruit ovoid, acute, light reddish brown, glabrous or pubescent, ¼′ long; pedicels glabrous or rarely pubescent, 1/16′—⅛′ in length.

A tree, 25°—50° high, with slender light orange-colored or grayish glabrous or pubescent easily separable branchlets. Bark rough, thick, deeply furrowed, sometimes nearly black.

Distribution. River banks; Reed Creek, Shasta County, and Red Bluff, Tehama County, California, southward in the interior valleys and on the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada to the mountain valleys in the southern part of the state, and to northern Lower California; eastward through central and southern Arizona; in southeastern Nevada; through southern New Mexico to western Texas (El Paso, El Paso County, and Fort Davis, Jeff Davis County); and southward into northern Mexico.

3. Salix Harbisonii Schn.

Leaves linear-lanceolate, narrow-elliptic or rarely obovate-lanceolate, acute or short-acuminate, obtusely or acutely cuneate at the base, and finely glandular dentate; when the flowers open more or less pubescent especially below or glabrous, and at maturity green on the upper surface, pale on the lower surface, glabrous, 4′ or 5′ long, ¾′ broad; petioles villose early in the season, becoming glabrous, ¼′ in length, minutely glandular at apex; stipules wanting or minute, semicordate, acute, pubescent on vigorous leading branches and sometimes ¼′ long. Flowers: aments terminal on leafy branchlets, 2½′—3′ in length, their rachis villose-pubescent; scales ovate or ovate-oblong, obtuse or acute; stamens usually 5—7, rarely 3—9; filaments densely villose; ovary ovoid, long-acuminate, glabrous, long-stalked; style short, distinct, 2-lobed. Fruit acuminate and long-pointed, acute at base, ¼′ long and about as long as its pedicel.

A tree, 30°—50° high, with a trunk 10′ or 12′ in diameter, with often pendulous branches, and slender branchlets more or less densely pubescent or tomentose or nearly glabrous when they first appear, becoming glabrous and dark reddish purple in their second season, and easily separable at the joints; often only a large shrub. Bark thick, deeply furrowed, dark red-brown, separating on the surface into small appressed scales.

Distribution. River banks and the borders of swamps; Dismal Swamp, Norfolk County, Virginia; near Goldsboro, Wayne County, North Carolina; common in the coast region of South Carolina and Georgia, extending up the Savannah River at least as far as Augusta, Richmond County, and through southern Georgia to the valley of the Flint River; swamps near Jacksonville, Duval County, and in the neighborhood of Apalachicola, Florida.

4. Salix amygdaloides Anders. Peach Willow. Almond Willow.

Leaves lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, frequently falcate, gradually or abruptly narrowed into a long slender point, cuneate or gradually rounded and often unequal at base, finely serrate, slightly puberulous when they unfold, becoming at maturity thin and firm in texture, light green and lustrous above, pale and glaucous below, 2½′—4′ long, ¾′—1¼′ wide, with a stout yellow or orange-colored midrib, prominent veins and reticulate veinlets; petioles slender, nearly terete ½′—¾′ in length; stipules reniform, serrate, often ½′ broad on vigorous shoots, usually caducous. Flowers: aments on leafy branchlets, elongated, cylindric, slender, arcuate, stalked, pubescent or tomentose, 2′—3′ long; scales yellow, sparingly villose on the outer, densely villose on the inner face, the staminate broadly ovate, rounded at the apex, the pistillate oblong-obovate, narrower, caducous; stamens 5—9, with free filaments slightly hairy at the base; ovary oblong-conic, long-stalked, glabrous, with a short style and emarginate stigmas. Fruit globose-conic, light reddish yellow, about ¼′ in length.

A tree, sometimes 60°—70° high, with a single straight or slightly inclining trunk rarely more than 2° in diameter, straight ascending branches, and slender glabrous or rarely pilose (f. _pilosiuscula_ Schn.) branchlets marked with scattered pale lenticels, dark orange color or red-brown and lustrous, becoming in their first winter light orange-brown. Winter-buds broadly ovoid, gibbous, dark chestnut-brown, very lustrous above the middle, light orange-brown below, ⅛′ long. Bark ½′—¾′ thick, brown somewhat tinged with red, and divided by irregular fissures into flat connected ridges separating on the surface into thick plate-like scales. Wood light, soft, close-grained, light brown, with thick nearly white sapwood.

Distribution. Banks of streams; Province of Quebec from the neighborhood of Montreal to Winnipeg, and along the fiftieth degree of north latitude to southeastern British Columbia, and to central New York, along the southern shores of Lake Erie, and through northern Ohio to northern Indiana, southwestern Illinois, northern and central Missouri, and to Kansas, northwestern Oklahoma and northwestern Texas; in Colorado, Utah and Nevada to central Oregon and southeastern Washington.

Salix amygdaloides var. Wrightii Schn.

_Salix Wrightii_ Anders.

Leaves lanceolate, gradually acuminate and long-pointed at apex, cuneate at base, finely serrate, occasionally slightly falcate, glabrous, yellow-green on the upper surface, pale on the lower surface, 1½′—2′ long, ¼′—⅓′ wide, and on vigorous summer shoots sometimes 4′ or 5′ long and ½′ wide; petioles slender, glabrous, ¼′—⅓′ in length. Flowers and Fruit as in the species.

A small or large tree best distinguished from _S. amygdaloides_ by the distinctly yellow or yellowish brown glabrous branchlets.

Distribution. Barstow, Ward County, common along the Rio Grande near El Paso and at Belon, El Paso County, and on Amarillo Creek, Potter County, western Texas; through southern New Mexico to the Sacramento Mountains, Otero County.

5. Salix Bonplandiana var. Toumeyi Schn.

_Salix Toumeyi._ Britt.

Leaves 4′—6′ long, ½′—¾′ wide, linear-lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, acuminate with a long slender point at apex, gradually narrowed and often unequal at the cuneate base, obscurely serrate with glandular teeth, or entire with revolute margins, thick and firm, reticulate-venulose, yellow-green and lustrous above, silvery white below, with a broad yellow midrib; falling irregularly during the winter; petioles stout, grooved, reddish; stipules ovate, rounded, slightly undulate, thin and scarious, ⅛′—¼′ broad, often persistent during the summer. Flowers: aments on leafy branchlets, cylindric, erect, slender, short-stalked, the staminate 1′—1½′ long and somewhat longer than the pistillate; scales broadly obovate, rounded at the apex, light yellow, villose on the outer surface and glabrous or slightly hairy above the middle on the inner surface; stamens usually 3, with free filaments slightly hairy at the base; ovary slender, oblong-conic, short-stalked, glabrous, with nearly sessile much-thickened club-shaped stigmas, sometimes nearly encircled below by the large broad ventral gland. Fruit ovoid-conic, rounded at base, light reddish yellow.

A tree, rarely more than 30° high, with a trunk 12′—15′ in diameter, slender erect and spreading branches often pendulous at the ends, forming a broad round-topped head, and slender glabrous branchlets marked with occasional pale lenticels, light yellow, becoming light or dark red-brown and lustrous, and paler orange-brown in their second year. Winter-buds narrowly ovoid, long-pointed, more or less falcate, bright red-brown, lustrous, ¼′ long. Bark ½′—¾′ thick, dark brown or nearly black, and deeply divided by narrow fissures into broad flat ridges separating on the surface into closely appressed scales.

Distribution. Banks of streams in the cañons of the mountains of central and southern Arizona (Sicamore Cañon near Flagstaff and Sabino Cañon, Santa Catalina Mountains); and southwestern New Mexico (cañon, Saint Louis Mountains, Grant County); in Chihuahua, Sonora and Lower California.

The typical _S. Bonplandiana_ H. B. K. with broader and more coarsely serrate leaves, and flower-aments appearing from July to January from the axils of mature leaves is widely distributed in Mexico and ranges to Guatemala.

6. Salix lævigata Bebb. Red Willow.

Leaves obovate, narrowed and rounded or acute and mucronate at apex, cuneate at base, with slightly revolute obscurely serrate margins, on sterile branches lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, acute or acuminate, when they unfold light blue-green and coated on the lower surface with long pale or tawny deciduous hairs, at maturity glabrous, dark blue-green and lustrous above, paler and glaucous below, 3′—7′ long, ¾′—1½′ wide, with a broad flat yellow midrib; petioles broad, grooved, puberulous, rarely ½′ long; stipules ovate, acute, finely serrate, usually small and caducous. Flowers: aments cylindric, slender, lax, elongated, 2′—4′ long, on leafy branchlets; scales peltate, dentate at apex, covered with long pale hairs, the staminate obovate, rounded, the pistillate narrower and more or less truncate; stamens usually 5 or 6, with free filaments hairy at the base; ovary conic, acute, rounded below, short-stalked, glabrous, with broad spreading emarginate stigmatic lobes. Fruit elongated, conic, long-stalked, nearly ¼′ in length.

A tree, 40°—50° high, with a straight trunk 2° in diameter, slender spreading branches, and slender light or dark orange-colored or bright red-brown glabrous, or in one form tomentose or villose (f. _araquipa_ Jeps.) branchlets; often much smaller, with an average height of 20°—30°. Winter-buds ovoid, somewhat obtuse, pale chestnut-brown, ⅛′—¼′ long. Bark ¾′—1′ thick, dark brown slightly tinged with red and deeply divided into irregular connected flat ridges broken on the surface into thick closely appressed scales. Wood light, soft, light brown tinged with red, with thick nearly white sapwood.

Distribution. Banks of streams; western California from the Oregon boundary to the southern borders of the state, ascending to altitudes of 4500° on the western slopes of the southern Sierra Nevada, and eastward to Mohave and Yavapai Counties, Arizona, southeastern Nevada and southwestern Utah.

7. Salix longipes Shuttl.

_Salix amphibia_ Small.

Leaves lanceolate, acuminate or on fertile branches occasionally rounded at the apex, rounded or cuneate at the base, finely serrate, hoary-tomentose early in the season, becoming glabrous above, and pale and glabrous or pubescent below, 2′—4′ long, ½′—¾′ wide; petioles hoary-tomentose, ¼′—½′ long; stipules minute, ovate, acute, hoary-tomentose, caducous, on vigorous shoots foliaceous, reniform, serrate above the middle, often ¾′ in diameter. Flowers: aments terminal on leafy tomentose or glabrous branchlets, narrow-cylindric, 3′ or 4′ long; scales ovate, rounded at the apex, yellow, densely villose-pubescent; stamens 3—7, usually 5 or 6, the filaments hairy toward the base; ovary ovoid-conic, acute, cuneate at the base with a short 2-lobed style, and pedicels up to ¼′ in length. Fruit ovoid, often rather abruptly contracted above the middle, ¼′ in length.

A tree, 20°—30°, high with a trunk occasionally 12′—18′ in diameter, spreading branches, and glabrous or pubescent red-brown or gray-brown branchlets; or more often a shrub. Bark dark, sometimes nearly black, deeply divided into broad ridges covered by small closely appressed scales.

Distribution. Borders of swamps and streams; coast of North Carolina southward to the Everglade Keys of Florida, ranging westward in Florida to the valley of the Saint Marks River, Wakulla County; in Cuba.

A variety with narrower summer leaves and longer petioles is var. _venulosa_ Schn.

Distribution. Newbern, Craven County, North Carolina, southward near the coast to northern and western Florida, ranging inland in Georgia to the banks of the Savannah River near Augusta, Richmond County, and to Traders Hill, Charlton County; in the neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana (_Drummond_); in southwestern Oklahoma and in western Texas (Blanco, Kendall, Kerr, Bandera and Uvalde Counties).

A variety with obtuse stipules, usually glabrous branchlets and lanceolate or narrow elliptic-lanceolate leaves is distinguished as var. _Wardii_ Schn.

A shrub or small tree.

Distribution. Banks of the Potomac River, District of Columbia, and Alleghany County, Maryland to Natural, Rockbridge, Fairfax and Elizabeth Counties, Virginia; northern Kentucky; northern Tennessee; northeastern Mississippi (near Iuka, Tishamingo County); St. Clair and Madison Counties, Illinois; more abundant in Missouri from Pike County southward to southwestern Kansas, western Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma.

8. Salix lasiandra Benth. Yellow Willow.

Leaves lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, acuminate and long-pointed at apex, cuneate or rounded at base, often slightly falcate, finely serrate, glabrous, dark green and lustrous above, pale or glaucous below, 1½′—3′ long, about ½′ wide, on vigorous summer shoots often 6′ or 7′ long and 1½′ wide; petioles slender, glabrous, glandular at apex, ¼′ in length, or on summer shoots stout and 1′—1½′ long; stipules reniform, caducous. Flowers: aments terminal on leafy puberulous branchlets, narrow-cylindric, 2½′—3′ in length; scales pale pubescent, those of the staminate ament lanceolate-acuminate to obovate and rounded at apex and entire, those of the pistillate ament obovate and usually dentate near the apex; stamens 5—9; filaments hairy below the middle; ovary rather abruptly narrowed above the middle and acuminate, long-stalked; style short with slightly emarginate lobes. Fruit light red-brown, ¼′ long; pedicels about 1/16′ in length.

Distribution. Valley of the Yukon River near Dawson, Yukon, Vancouver Island, and southward near the coast of Washington and Oregon, and on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada and on the coast ranges to southern California, ranging from the sea-level to altitudes of 8500° on the southern Sierra Nevada; in New Mexico (Glenwood, Soccoro County, and Santa Fé, Santa Fé County); in Colorado (Buena Vista, Chaffee County, _Alice Eastwood_). Passing into var. _caudata_ Sudw., distinguished by its caudate-acuminate leaves green on both surfaces, and by its bright yellow or orange-yellow branchlets, and ranging from northeastern Oregon and eastern Washington through Idaho, and from northern Wyoming to southern Colorado, Utah and Nevada.

A variety (var. _lancifolia_ Bebb), differing from the typical _S. lasiandra_ in the gray or rusty villose pubescence covering the branchlets during their first and sometimes their second season and the lower surface of the young leaves, is distributed from Dawson in the valley of the Yukon River southward to the valley of the upper Nesqually River, Washington, to the valley of the Willamette River (Salem, Oregon), to Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz County, and to the San Bernardino Mountains, California.

9. Salix lucida Muehl. Shining Willow.

Leaves ovate-lanceolate, or narrow lanceolate (f. _angustifolia_ Anders.), acuminate and long-pointed at apex, cuneate or rounded at base, finely serrate, 3′—5′ long, 1′—1½′ wide, covered when they unfold with scattered pale caducous hairs, at maturity coriaceous, smooth and lustrous, dark green above, paler below, with a broad yellow midrib, and slender primary veins arcuate and united near the margins; petioles stout, yellow, puberulous, glandular at the apex, with several dark or yellow conspicuous glands, ¼′—½′ long; stipules nearly semicircular, glandular-serrate, membranaceous, ⅛′—¼′ wide, often persistent during the summer. Flowers: aments erect, tomentose, on stout puberulous peduncles terminal on short leafy branchlets, the staminate oblong-cylindric, densely flowered, about 1½′ in length, the pistillate slender, elongated, 1½′—2′ long, often persistent until late in the season; scales oblong or obovate, rounded, entire, erose or dentate at apex, light yellow, nearly glabrous or coated on the outer surface with pale hairs, often ciliate on the margins; stamens usually 5, with elongated free filaments slightly hairy at base; ovary narrowly cylindric, long-stalked, elongated, glabrous, with nearly sessile emarginate stigmas. Fruit: cylindric, lustrous, about ⅓′ long.

A tree, occasionally 25° high, with a short trunk 6′—8′ in diameter, erect branches forming a broad round-topped symmetrical head, and stout glabrous branchlets dark orange color and lustrous in their first season, becoming darker and more or less tinged with red the following year; usually smaller and shrubby in habit. Winter-buds narrowly ovoid, acute, light orange-brown, lustrous, about ¼′ long. Bark thin, smooth, dark brown slightly tinged with red.

Distribution. Banks of streams and swamps; Newfoundland to the shores of Hudson’s Bay and northwestward to the valley of the Mackenzie River and the eastern base of the Rocky Mountains, southward to southern Pennsylvania, northeastern Iowa, the Turtle Mountains, North Dakota, and eastern Nebraska; very abundant at the north, rare southward; a variety from extreme northeastern New England and adjacent New Brunswick and Quebec (var. _intonsa_ Fernald) is distinguished by its often linear leaves rufous pubescent during the season on the under side of the veins and by its pubescent branchlets; a shrub or tree up to 25°.

10. Salix taxifolia H. B. K.

Leaves linear-lanceolate, narrowed at the ends, acute, slightly falcate, mucronate at the apex, entire or rarely obscurely dentate above the middle, coated as they unfold with long soft white hairs, at maturity pale gray-green, slightly puberulous, ⅓′—1⅓′ long, 1/12′—⅛′ wide, with a slender midrib, thin arcuate veins, and thickened slightly revolute margins; petioles stout, puberulous, rarely 1/12′ long; stipules ovate, acute, scarious, minute, caducous. Flowers: aments densely flowered, oblong-cylindric or subglobose, ¼′—½′ long, terminal, or terminal and axillary on the staminate plant, on short leafy branchlets; scales oblong or obovate, rounded or acute and sometimes apiculate at apex, coated on the outer surface with hoary tomentum and pubescent or glabrous on the inner; stamens 2, with free filaments hairy below the middle; ovary ovoid-conic, short-stalked or subsessile, villose, with nearly sessile deeply emarginate stigmas. Fruit cylindric, long-pointed, bright red-brown, more or less villose, short-stalked, about ¼′ long.

A tree, often 40°—50° high, with a trunk 18′ in diameter, erect and drooping branches forming a broad open head, and slender branchlets covered during their first season with hoary tomentum, becoming light reddish or purplish brown and much roughened by the elevated persistent leaf-scars. Winter-buds ovoid, acute, dark chestnut-brown, puberulous, about 1/16′ long and nearly as broad as long. Bark of the trunk ¾′—1′ thick, light gray-brown, and divided by deep fissures into broad flat ridges covered by minute closely appressed scales.

Distribution. Near El Paso, Texas; southwestern New Mexico, and along mountain streams in southern Arizona; southward through Mexico to Guatemala, and on the Sierra de la Victoria, Lower California.

11. Salix sessilifolia Nutt.

Leaves linear-lanceolate to elliptic-lanceolate, acute or acuminate at apex, cuneate at base, entire or furnished above the middle with a few remote apiculate glandular teeth, bluish green and thickly covered with silky white hairs most abundant on the lower side of the midrib, 1′—2′ long, ½′—¾′ wide, or on vigorous summer shoots often 4′ long and 1¼′ wide; petioles densely villose-pubescent, 1/16′—⅛′ in length; stipules ovate to lanceolate, acute, entire or denticulate. Flowers: aments appearing after the leaves, terminal on leafy branchlets, densely hoary-tomentose, 1½′—2½′ long; scales broadly elliptic, acute or rounded at apex, cuneate at base, densely villose-tomentose; stamens 2; filaments villose below the middle; ovary sessile, villose, the stigmas sessile, deeply 2-lobed. Fruit ovoid-acuminate, densely villose, pubescent.

A shrub or small tree occasionally 20° high, with short hairy tomentose branchlets.

Distribution. River banks, southwestern British Columbia; Whitcomb County, Washington, and on the Umpqua and Willamette Rivers, western Oregon. Southward passing into

Var. _Hindsiana_ Anders., a large shrub with numerous stems often 20° high, differing in its more linear or narrow lanceolate usually entire leaves on longer petioles, smaller aments and pubescent, not tomentose, branchlets; and distributed from the valleys of central California to southwestern Oregon. A shrubby form of _S. sessilifolia_ (var. _leucodendroides_ Schn.) with longer and broader leaves is common on the banks of streams in southern California.

12. Salix exigua Nutt.

Leaves lanceolate to oblanceolate, acuminate at the ends, often slightly falcate, minutely glandular-serrate above the middle, bluish green and glabrous above, covered below with appressed silky white hairs, 1½′—3′ long, ⅛′—¼′ wide, or on summer shoots sometimes 4½′ long and 1½′ wide; petioles glabrous, 1/16′ long or less; stipules minute or wanting. Flowers: aments terminal and solitary or terminal and axillary, on leafy glabrous branchlets, 1′—2′ in length; scales hoary pubescent, lanceolate and acute on staminate aments, often wider, obovate and rounded at the apex on pistillate aments; stamens, 2, filaments hairy below the middle; ovary sessile, villose, the stigmatic lobes sessile. Fruit ovoid, acuminate, glabrous.

A shrub with stems 10° or 12° tall, or rarely a tree 25° high, with a trunk 5′ or 6′ in diameter, thin spreading branches forming a round-topped head, and slender glabrous red-brown branchlets. Bark of the trunk thin, longitudinally fissured, grayish brown.

Distribution. Southern Alberta and valley of the Fraser River (Clinton), British Columbia, southward through western Washington and Oregon to San Diego County, California, and southeastern Nevada, and eastward to southern Idaho, central Nevada and western Wyoming (Yellowstone National Park).

Apparently only truly a tree on the banks of the Palouse and other streams of eastern Washington.

Several shrubby forms of _S. exigua_ found in Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, western Nebraska and in Lower California are distinguished.

13. Salix longifolia Muehl. Sand Bar Willow.

_Salix fluviatalis_ Sarg., not Nutt.

Leaves linear-lanceolate, often somewhat falcate, gradually narrowed at the ends, long-pointed, dentate with small remote spreading callous glandular teeth, 2′—6′ long, ⅛′—⅓′ wide, when they unfold coated below with soft lustrous silky hairs, at maturity thin, glabrous, light yellow-green, darker on the upper than on the lower surface, with a yellow midrib, slender arcuate primary veins, and slender reticulate veinlets; petioles grooved, ⅛′—¼′ long; stipules ovate-lanceolate, foliaceous, about ¼′ long, deciduous. Flowers: aments cylindric on leafy branchlets, pubescent, the staminate about 1′ long, ⅓′ broad, terminal and axillary, the pistillate elongated, 2′ or 3′ long, about ¼′ broad; scales obovate-oblong, entire, erose or dentate above the middle, light yellow-green, densely villose on the outer surface, slightly hairy on the inner; stamens 2, with free filaments slightly hairy at the base; ovary oblong-cylindric, acute, short-stalked, glabrous or pubescent, with large sessile deeply lobed stigmas. Fruit light brown, glabrous or villose, about ¼′ long.

A tree, usually about 20° high, with a trunk only a few inches in diameter, spreading by stoloniferous roots into broad thickets, short slender erect branches, and slender glabrous light or dark orange-colored or purplish red branchlets, growing darker after their first season; occasionally 60°—70° high, with a trunk 2° in diameter; often a shrub not more than 5°—6° tall. Winter-buds narrowly ovoid, acute, chestnut-brown, about ⅛′ long. Bark ⅛′—¼′ thick, smooth, dark brown slightly tinged with red and covered with small closely appressed irregularly shaped scales. Wood light, soft, light brown tinged with red, with thin light brown sapwood.

Distribution. River banks, sand bars and alluvial flats; shores of Lake St. John, Quebec to Manitoba, and southward through western New England to northeastern Virginia, southern Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, western Kentucky, south Tennessee, to the mouth of the Mississippi River, and westward to southwestern South Dakota, southwestern Wyoming, northeastern Colorado, western Kansas and Oklahoma, and northern Texas.

From central and northwestern Texas to northeastern Mexico and southern New Mexico represented by var. _angustissima_ Anders., differing in the absence of a dorsal gland in the male flowers and in the silky pubescence of the young ovary.

In the northern Rocky Mountains region replaced by var. _pedunculata_ Anders., differing from the type in its narrower linear leaves, glabrous ovaries and longer pedicels of the fruit, and ranging from western South Dakota and northwestern Wyoming, through eastern Montana, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, to the valley of the Yukon River in the neighborhood of Dawson.

A shrubby form with leaves densely covered with silky pubescence (var. _Wheeleri_ Schn.) is distributed from New Brunswick to North Dakota, Nebraska and Beckham County, Oklahoma.

14. Salix lasiolepis Benth. Arroyo Willow.

Leaves oblanceolate to lanceolate-oblong, often inequilateral and occasionally falcate, acute or acuminate or rarely rounded at apex, gradually or abruptly cuneate or rounded at base, entire or remotely serrate, pilose above and coated below with thick hoary tomentum when they unfold, at maturity thick and subcoriaceous, conspicuously reticulate-venulose, dark green and glabrous above, pale or glaucous and pubescent or puberulous below, 3′—6′ long, ½′—1′ wide, with a broad yellow midrib and slender arcuate veins forked and united within the slightly thickened and revolute margins; petioles slender, ⅛′—½′ long; stipules ovate, acute, coated with hoary tomentum, minute and caducous, or sometimes foliaceous, semilunar, acute or acuminate, entire or denticulate, dark green above, pale below, persistent. Flowers: aments erect, cylindric, slightly flexuose, densely flowered, nearly sessile on short tomentose branchlets, 1½′ long, the staminate ½′ thick, and nearly twice as thick as the pistillate; scales oblong-obovate, rounded or acute at the apex, dark-colored, clothed with long crisp white hairs, persistent under the fruit; stamens 2, with elongated glabrous filaments more or less united below the middle; ovary narrow, cylindric acute and long-pointed, dark green, glabrous, with a short style and broad nearly sessile stigmas. Fruit oblong-cylindric, light reddish brown, about ¼′ long.

A tree, 20°—35° high, with a trunk 3′—7′ in diameter, slender erect branches forming a loose open head, and stout branchlets coated at first with hoary tomentum, bright yellow or dark reddish brown and puberulous or pubescent during their first year, becoming darker and glabrous in their second season; or often at the north and at high altitudes a low shrub. Winter-buds ovoid, acute, compressed, contracted laterally into thin wing-like margins, light brownish yellow, glabrous or puberulous. Bark on young stems and on the branches thin, smooth, light gray-brown, becoming on old trunks dark, about ⅓′ thick, roughened by small lenticels and broken into broad flat irregularly connected ridges. Wood light, soft, close-grained, light brown, with thick nearly white sapwood; in southern California often used as fuel.

Distribution. Banks of streams in low moist ground; valley of the Klamath River, California, southward along the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, the central valley, and on the Coast Ranges to southern California; on Santa Catalina Island and on the mountains of southern Arizona; on the Sierra de Laguna, Lower California; occasionally ascending to altitudes of 4000° above the sea.

15. Salix Mackenzieana Barr.

Leaves lanceolate to oblanceolate, or elliptic, long-pointed at apex, cuneate or rounded at base, finely crenately serrate, reddish and pilose with caducous pale hairs when they unfold, at maturity thin and firm in texture, light green above, pale below, 1½′—2′ long, about ½′—¾′ wide, on summer shoots, often 4′ long and 1½′ wide, with a slender yellow midrib, arcuate veins, and obscure reticulate veinlets; petioles thin, yellow, about ⅓′ long; stipules reniform, conspicuously veined, about 1/16′ broad. Flowers: aments densely flowered, glabrous, erect, often more or less curved, about 1½′ long, terminal on short leafy branchlets; scales oblanceolate, acute, dark-colored; stamens 2, with elongated free glabrous filaments; ovary cylindric, long-stalked, elongated, gradually narrowed into a short style, with spreading emarginate stigmas. Fruit ovoid, acuminate, light brown, about ⅛′ long; pedicels about ⅙′ in length.

A small tree, with a slender trunk, upright branches forming a narrow shapely head, and slender branchlets marked with scattered lenticels, glabrous or slightly puberulous and often tinged with red when they first appear, soon becoming yellow and lustrous, growing lighter colored in their second year. Winter-buds ovoid, rounded on the back, compressed and acute at the apex, bright orange color, about ⅛′ long.

Distribution. Borders of streams and swamps; shores of Great Slave Lake southward through the region at the eastern base of the Rocky Mountains to Saskatchewan, northern Idaho, and northwestern Wyoming, and to western Nevada (Lake County; _M. S. Bebb_), and on the high Sierra Nevada in Calaveras and Mariposa Counties, California (_W. L. Jepson_).

16. Salix missouriensis Bebb.

Leaves lanceolate or oblanceolate, acuminate and long-pointed at apex, gradually narrowed from above the middle to the cuneate or rounded base, finely glandular-serrate, coated with pale hairs on the lower surface and pilose on the upper surface when they unfold, soon becoming nearly glabrous, at maturity thin and firm, dark green above, pale and often silvery white below, 4′—6′ long, 1′—1½′ wide, with slender veins often united near the margins and connected by coarse reticulate veinlets; petioles stout, pubescent or tomentose, ½′—¾′ long; stipules foliaceous, semicordate, pointed or rarely reniform and obtuse, serrate with incurved teeth, dark green and glabrous on the upper side, coated on the lower with hoary tomentum, reticulate-venulose, often ½′ long, deciduous or persistent during the season. Flowers: aments oblong-cylindric, densely flowered, appearing early in February on short leafy branchlets, the staminate 1½′ long and nearly ½′ wide and rather longer than the more slender pistillate aments becoming at maturity lax and 3′—4′ long; scales oblong-obovate, light green, and covered on the outer surface with long straight white hairs; stamens 2, with elongated free glabrous filaments; ovary cylindric, short-stalked, beaked, glabrous, with a short style and spreading entire or slightly emarginate stigmas. Fruit narrow, long-pointed, light reddish brown, ⅓′ in length; pedicels about half the length of the scales.

A tree, 40°—50° high, with a tall straight trunk 10′—12′ or rarely 18′ in diameter, rather slender upright slightly spreading branches forming a narrow open symmetrical head, and slender branchlets marked by small scattered orange-colored lenticels, light green and coated during their first year with thick pale pubescence, becoming reddish brown and glabrous or puberulous in their second winter. Winter-buds ovoid, round, or flattened, acute at the apex, reddish brown, hoary-tomentose, nearly 1′ long. Bark thin, smooth, light gray, slightly tinged with red, and covered with minute closely appressed plate-like scales. Wood dark red-brown, with thin pale sapwood; durable, used for fence-posts.

Distribution. Deep sandy alluvial bottom-lands of the Missouri River in southwestern Nebraska to western Missouri; through northeastern Kansas and eastern Oklahoma to Cache Creek, Comanche County (_G. W. Stevens_); and from the neighborhood of St. Louis to southeastern and western Iowa.

17. Salix pyrifolia Anders.

_Salix balsamifera_ Barr.

Leaves ovate to oblong-lanceolate, acute at apex, broad and rounded and usually subcordate at base, finely glandular serrulate, balsamic particularly while young, when they unfold thin, pellucid, red and coated below with long slender caducous hairs, at maturity thin and firm, dark green above, pale and glaucous below, 2′—4′ long, 1′—1½′ wide, with a yellow midrib and conspicuous reticulate veinlets; petioles reddish or yellow, ⅓′—½′ long; stipules often wanting or on vigorous shoots foliaceous, broadly ovate and acute. Flowers: aments cylindric, 1′—1½′ long, on short leafy branchlets, the staminate 1′—1¼′ long and ¾′ in diameter and shorter and broader than the pistillate ament; scales obovate, rose-colored, coated with long white hairs; stamens 2, with free filaments and reddish ultimately yellow anthers; ovary narrow-ovoid, long-stalked, gradually contracted above the middle, with a short style and emarginate stigmas. Fruit ovoid-conic, ¼′ long, dark orange color; pedicels ⅙′ in length.

Usually a shrub, often making clumps of crowded slender erect stems generally destitute of branches except near the top, rarely arborescent, with a height of 25°, a trunk 12′—14′ in diameter, erect branches, and comparatively stout reddish brown branchlets becoming olive-green in their second year and marked with narrow slightly raised leaf-scars. Winter-buds acute, much-compressed, bright scarlet, very lustrous, about ¼′ long. Bark thin, smooth, dull gray.

Distribution. Cold wet bogs; Newfoundland and the coast of Labrador to the valley of the Saskatchewan and the Mackenzie, and British Columbia, and to northern Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Michigan, and northeastern South Dakota; reported to become arborescent only near Fort Kent on the St. John River, Aroostook, Maine.

18. Salix amplifolia Cov.

Leaves oval to broadly obovate, rounded or broadly pointed at apex, gradually or abruptly narrowed at the cuneate base, dentate-serrulate or entire, densely villose when they unfold, with long matted white hairs, at maturity nearly glabrous, pale yellow-green above, slightly glaucous below, 2′—2½′ long, 1′—1½′ wide, with a midrib broad and hoary-tomentose toward the base of the leaf and thin and glabrous above the middle; petioles slender, tomentose. Flowers: aments appearing about the middle of June, stout, pedunculate, tomentose, on leafy branchlets, the staminate 1½′—2′ long and shorter than the pistillate; scales oblanceolate or lanceolate, dark brown or nearly black, covered with long pale hairs; stamens 2, with slender elongated glabrous filaments; ovary ovoid-lanceolate, short-stalked, glabrous or slightly pubescent, gradually narrowed into the elongated slender style crowned with a 2-lobed slender stigma. Fruit ovoid-lanceolate, glabrous, short-stalked, ¼′ long.

A tree, occasionally 25° high, with a trunk a foot in diameter, and stout branchlets conspicuously roughened by the large elevated U-shaped leaf-scars, and marked by occasional pale lenticels, coated at first with thick villose pubescence, becoming during their second and third years dark dull reddish purple.

Distribution. Sand dunes on the shores of Yakutat Bay and Disenchantment Bay, Alaska.

19. Salix alaxensis Cov. Feltleaf Willow.

Leaves elliptic-lanceolate to obovate, acute, acuminate or occasionally rounded at apex, gradually narrowed into a short thick petiole, coated above as they unfold with thin pale deciduous tomentum and covered below with a thick mass of snowy white lustrous hairs persistent on the mature leaves, entire, often somewhat wrinkled, dull yellow-green above, 2′—4′ long, 1′—1½′ wide, with a broad yellow midrib; stipules linear-lanceolate to filiform, entire, ½′—¾′ long, usually persistent until midsummer. Flowers: aments appearing in June when the leaves are nearly fully grown, stout, erect, tomentose, stalked, on leafy branchlets, the staminate 1′—1½′ long, much shorter than the pistillate; scales oblong-ovate, rounded at apex, dark-colored, and coated with long silvery white soft hairs; stamens 2, with slender elongated filaments; ovary acuminate, short-stalked, covered with soft pale hairs, gradually narrowed into the elongated slender style, with 2-lobed stigmas. Fruit nearly sessile, ovoid, acuminate covered with close dense pale tomentum, ¼′ long.

A tree, sometimes 30° high, with a trunk 4′—6′ in diameter, and stout branchlets thickly coated at first with matted white hairs, becoming in their second year glabrous, dark purple, lustrous, marked by large elevated pale scattered lenticels and much roughened by large U-shaped leaf-scars; often shrubby, and in the most exposed situations frequently only a foot or two high, with semiprostrate stems.

Distribution. Coast of Alaska from the Alexander Archipelago to Cape Lisbourne, and eastward to the valley of the Mackenzie River and to the shores of Coronation Gulf; the only arborescent Willow in the coast region west and north of Kadiak Island; attaining its largest size from the Shumagin Islands eastward.

20. Salix Bebbiana Sarg.

Leaves oblong-obovate to oblong-elliptic or lanceolate, acuminate and short-pointed or acute at apex, gradually narrowed and cuneate or rounded at base, remotely and irregularly serrate usually only above the middle, or rarely entire, when they unfold pale gray-green, glabrous or villose, and often tinged with red on the upper surface and coated on the lower with pale tomentum or pubescence, at maturity thick and firm, dull green and glabrous or puberulous above, blue or silvery white and covered with pale rufous pubescence below, especially along the midrib, veins, and conspicuous reticulate veinlets, 1′—3′ long, ½′—1′ wide; petioles slender, often pubescent, reddish, ¼′—½′ long; stipules foliaceous, semicordate, glandular-dentate, sometimes nearly ½′ long on vigorous shoots, deciduous. Flowers: aments terminal on short leafy branchlets; scales ovate or oblong, rounded at apex, broader on the staminate than on the pistillate plant, yellow below, rose color at apex, villose with long pale silky hairs, persistent under the fruit; staminate aments cylindric, obovoid, narrowed at base, densely flowered, ¾′—1′ long, ½′—1′ thick; pistillate aments oblong-cylindric, loosely flowered, 1′—1¼′ long, ½′ thick; stamens 2, with free glabrous filaments; ovary cylindric, villose; with long silky white hairs, gradually narrowed at apex, with broad sessile entire or emarginate spreading yellow stigmas; pedicel villose, about ¼′ in length, and about as long as the scale. Fruit elongated-cylindric, gradually narrowed into a long thin beak, and raised on a slender stalk sometimes ½′ long.

A bushy tree, occasionally 25° high, with a short trunk 6′—8′ in diameter, stout ascending branches forming a broad round head, and slender branchlets coated at first with hoary deciduous tomentum, varying during their first winter from reddish purple to dark orange-brown, marked by scattered raised lenticels and roughened by conspicuous elevated leaf-scars, growing lighter-colored and reddish brown in their second year; usually much smaller and often shrubby in habit. Bark thin, reddish or olive-green or gray tinged with red, and slightly divided by shallow fissures into appressed plate-like scales. Winter-buds oblong, gradually narrowed and rounded at apex, full and rounded on the back, bright light chestnut-brown, nearly ¼′ long.

Distribution. Borders of streams, swamps, and lakes, hillsides, open woods and forest margins, usually in moist rich soil; valley of the St. Lawrence River to the shores of Hudson’s Bay, the valley of the Mackenzie River within the Arctic Circle, Cook Inlet, Alaska, and the coast ranges of British Columbia, forming in the region west of Hudson’s Bay almost impenetrable thickets, with twisted and often inclining stems; common in all the northern states, ranging southward to Pennsylvania and westward to Minnesota and through the Rocky Mountain region from western Idaho and northern Montana to northern North Dakota, eastern South Dakota, northeastern and central Iowa, and western Nebraska, and southward through Colorado to northern Arizona; ascending as a low shrub in Colorado to an altitude of 10,000°.

21. Salix discolor Muehl. Glaucous Willow.

Leaves lanceolate to elliptic, gradually narrowed at the ends, remotely crenulate-serrate, as they unfold thin, light green often tinged with red, pubescent above and coated with a pale tomentum below, at maturity thick and firm, glabrous, conspicuously reticulate-venulose, bright green above, glaucous or silvery white below, 3′—5′ long, ¾′—1½′ wide, with a broad yellow midrib and slender arcuate primary veins; petioles slender, ½′—1′ long; stipules foliaceous, semilunar, acute, glandular-dentate, about ¼′ long, deciduous. Flowers: aments appearing late in winter or in very early spring, erect, terminal on short scale-bearing branchlets coated with thick white tomentum, oblong-cylindric, about 1′ long and ⅔′ thick, the staminate soft and silky before the flowers open and densely flowered; scales oblong-obovate, dark reddish brown toward the apex, covered on the back with long silky silvery white hairs; stamens 2, with elongated glabrous filaments; ovary oblong-cylindric, narrowed above the middle, villose, with a short distinct style and broad spreading entire stigmas; pedicel glabrous, about twice the length of the scale. Fruit cylindric, more or less contracted above the middle, long-pointed, light brown, coated with pale pubescence.

A tree, rarely more than 25° high, with a trunk about 1° in diameter, stout ascending branches forming an open round-topped head, and stout branchlets marked by occasional orange-colored lenticels, dark reddish purple and coated at first with pale deciduous pubescence; more often shrubby, with numerous tall straggling stems. Winter-buds semiterete, flattened and acute at the apex, about ⅜′ long, dark reddish purple and lustrous. Bark ¼′ thick, light brown tinged with red, and divided by shallow fissures into thin plate-like oblong scales. Wood light, soft, close-grained, brown streaked with red, with lighter brown sapwood.

Distribution. Moist meadows and the banks of streams and lakes; Nova Scotia to Manitoba, and southward to Delaware, southern Indiana and Illinois, eastern and southwestern Iowa, the Black Hills of South Dakota, and northeastern Missouri; common.

A form of _Salix discolor_ with more densely flowered and more silvery pubescent aments is described as var. _eriocephala_ Schn. and a form with loosely flowered aments with less tomentose fruits with longer styles and with narrower leaves as var. _prinoides_ Schn.

22. Salix Scouleriana Barr. Black Willow.

_Salix Nuttallii_ Sarg.

Leaves oblong-obovate to elliptic, acute or abruptly acuminate with a short or long-pointed apex, gradually narrowed and cuneate at the often unsymmetrical base, entire or remotely and irregularly crenately serrate, thin and firm, dark yellow-green and lustrous above, pale or glaucous and glabrous or pilose below, 1¼′—4′ long, ½′—1½′ wide, with a broad yellow pubescent midrib and slender veins forked and arcuate within the slightly thickened and revolute margins and connected by conspicuous reticulate veinlets; petioles slender, puberulous, ¼′—½′ in length; stipules foliaceous, semilunar, glandular-serrate, ⅛′—¼′ long, caducous. Flowers: aments appearing before the leaves, oblong-cylindric, erect, nearly sessile on short tomentose scale-bearing branchlets, the staminate about 1′ long and rather more than ½′ thick, the pistillate 1½′ long, about 5/12′ thick; scales oblong, narrowed at the ends, dark-colored, covered with long white hairs, persistent under the fruit; stamens 2, with free glabrous filaments; ovary cylindric, short-stalked, with a distinct style and broad emarginate stigmas; pedicels less than half the length of the scale, villose. Fruit oblong-ovoid, acuminate, light reddish brown, pale pubescent, about ⅓′ long.

A tree, occasionally 30° high, with a short trunk rarely exceeding 1° in diameter, slender pendulous branches forming a rather compact round-topped shapely head, and stout branchlets marked by scattered yellow lenticels, coated when they first appear with pale early deciduous pubescence, becoming bright yellow or dark orange color, and in their second year dark red-brown and much roughened by the conspicuous leaf-scars; or more often a shrub. Winter-buds ovoid, acute, nearly terete or slightly flattened, with narrow lateral wing-like margins, light or dark orange color, glabrous or pilose at the base, about ¼′ long. Bark thin, dark brown slightly tinged with red, and divided into broad flat ridges. Wood light, soft, close-grained, light brown tinged with red, with thick nearly white sapwood.

Distribution. Cook’s Inlet, coast of Alaska, and valley of the Yukon River near Dawson southward through western British Columbia to northern California, ranging eastward through Washington and northwestern Oregon to northern Idaho and Montana.

From central California to San Bernardino County represented by the variety _crassijulis_ Andr. (S. _brachystachys_ Benth.) with shorter and broader obovate leaves rounded at apex, pubescent and tomentose branchlets and larger pubescent winter-buds. A tree sometimes 70° high with a trunk often 2½° in diameter.

On the high Sierra Nevada eastward to the eastern ranges of the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and to northern New Mexico, northern Wyoming and the Black Hills of South Dakota represented by the var. _flavescens_ Schn. A shrub or rarely a small tree with obovate rounded yellowish leaves and branchlets.

23. Salix Hookeriana Barr.

Leaves oblong to oblong-obovate, acute or abruptly acuminate, or rarely rounded and frequently apiculate at apex, gradually narrowed and cuneate or rounded at base, coarsely crenately serrate, especially those on vigorous shoots, or entire, when they unfold villose with pale hairs, or tomentose above and clothed below with silvery white tomentum, at maturity thin and firm, bright yellow-green and lustrous, nearly glabrous or tomentose on the upper surface, pale and glaucous and tomentose or pubescent on the lower surface, especially along the midrib and slender arcuate primary veins and conspicuous reticulate veinlets, 2′—6′ long, 1′—1½′ wide; petioles stout, tomentose, ¼′—⅓′ long. Flowers: aments oblong-cylindric, erect, rather lax, often more or less curved, about 1½′ long, on short tomentose scale-bearing branchlets, the staminate ⅔′ thick and rather thicker than the pistillate; scales oblong-obovate, yellow, coated with long pale hairs, the staminate rounded above and rather shorter than the more acute scales of the pistillate ament persistent under the fruit; stamens 2, with free elongated glabrous filaments; ovary conic, glabrous, stalked, with a slender stalk about one third as long as the scale, gradually narrowed above, with a slender elongated bright red style and broad spreading entire stigmas. Fruit oblong-cylindric, narrowed above, about ¼′ long.

A tree, occasionally 30° high, with a trunk about 1° in diameter, and stout branchlets marked by large scattered orange-colored lenticels, covered during their first season with hoary tomentum and rather bright or dark red-brown and pubescent in their second summer; more often shrubby, with numerous stems 4′—8′ thick and 15°—20° high; frequently a low bush, with straggling almost prostrate stems. Winter-buds ovoid, acute, nearly terete, dark red, coated with pale pubescence, about ¼′ long. Bark nearly ⅛′ thick, light red-brown, slightly fissured and divided into closely appressed plate-like scales. Wood light, soft, close-grained, light brown tinged with red, with thin nearly white sapwood.

Distribution. Borders of salt marshes and ponds and sandy coast dunes; Vancouver Island southward along the shores of Puget Sound and the Pacific Ocean to southern Oregon.

24. Salix sitchensis Sanson.

Leaves oblong-obovate to oblanceolate, entire or minutely glandular dentate, acute or acuminate, or rounded and short-pointed, or rounded at apex, gradually narrowed and cuneate at base, when they unfold pubescent or tomentose on the upper surface, and coated on the lower with lustrous white silky pubescence or tomentum persistent during the season or sometimes deciduous from the leaves of vigorous young shoots, at maturity thin and firm, dark green, lustrous and glabrous above, with the exception of the pubescent midrib, 2′—5′ long, ¾′—1½′ wide, with conspicuous slender veins arcuate and united within the margins and prominent reticulate veinlets; petioles stout, pubescent, rarely ½′ long; stipules rarely produced, foliaceous, semilunar, acute or rounded at apex, glandular-dentate, coated below with hoary tomentum, often ½′ long, caducous. Flowers: aments cylindric, densely flowered, erect on short tomentose leafy branchlets, the staminate 1½′—2′ long and ½′ thick, the pistillate 2½′—3′ long, and ¼′ thick; scales yellow or tawny, the staminate oblong-obovate, rounded at the apex, covered with long white hairs, much longer than the more acute pubescent scales of the pistillate ament; stamen 1, with an elongated glabrous filament, or very rarely 2, with filaments united below the middle or nearly to the apex; ovary short-stalked, ovoid, conic, acute, pubescent and gradually narrowed into the elongated style, with entire or slightly emarginate short stigmas. Fruit ovoid, narrowed above, light red-brown, pubescent about ¼′ long.

A much-branched tree, occasionally 25°—30° high, with a short contorted often inclining trunk sometimes 1° in diameter, and slender brittle branchlets coated at first with hoary tomentum, pubescent and tomentose and dark red-brown or orange color during their first winter, becoming darker, pubescent or glabrous, and sometimes covered with a glaucous bloom in their second season; more often shrubby and 6°—15° tall. Winter-buds acute, nearly terete, light red-brown, pubescent or puberulous, about ¼′ long. Bark about ⅛′ thick and broken into irregular closely appressed dark brown scales tinged with red. Wood light, soft, close-grained, pale red, with thick nearly white sapwood.

Distribution. Banks of streams and in low moist ground; Cook Inlet and Kadiak Island, Alaska, southward in the neighborhood of the coast to Santa Barbara, California; on the Marble Creek of the Kaweah River at 6900° altitude (f. _Ralphiana_ Jeps.)

VI. MYRICACEÆ.

Aromatic resinous trees and shrubs, with watery juice, terete branches, and small scaly buds. Leaves alternate, revolute in the bud, serrate, resinous-punctate, persistent in our species, in falling leaving elevated semiorbicular leaf-scars showing the ends of three nearly equidistant fibro-vascular bundles. Flowers unisexual, diœcious or monœcious, usually subtended by minute bractlets, in the axils of the deciduous scales of unisexual or androgynous simple oblong aments from buds in the axils of the leaves of the year, opening in early spring, the staminate below the pistillate in androgynous aments; staminate, perianth 0; stamens 4 or many, inserted on the thickened base of the scales of the ament; filaments slender, united at the base into a short stipe; anthers ovoid, erect, 2-celled, introrse, opening longitudinally; ovary rudimentary or 0; pistillate flowers single or in pairs; ovary sessile, 1-celled; styles short, divided into 2 elongated filiform stigmas stigmatic on the inner face; ovule solitary, erect from the base of the cell, orthotropous, the micropyle superior. Fruit a globose or ovoid dry drupe usually covered with waxy exudations; nut hard, thick-walled. Seed erect, with a thin coat, without albumen; embryo straight; cotyledons plano-convex, fleshy; radicle short, superior, turned away from the minute basal hilum.

The family consists of the genus _Myrica_ L., of about thirty or forty species of small trees and shrubs, widely distributed through the temperate and warmer parts of both hemispheres. Of the seven North American species three are trees. Wax is obtained from the exudations of the fruit of several species. The bark is astringent, and sometimes used in medicine, in tanning, and as an aniline dye. _Myrica_ rubra Sieb and Zacc., of southern Japan and China, is cultivated for its succulent aromatic red fruit.

The generic name is probably from the ancient name of some shrub, possibly the Tamarisk.

CONSPECTUS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN SPECIES.

Flowers diœcious.
Leaves oblanceolate, usually acute or rarely rounded at apex, mostly
coarsely serrate above the middle, yellow-green, coated below
with conspicuous orange-colored glands.
1. M. cerifera (A, C).
Leaves usually broadly oblong-obovate, rounded or rarely acute at
apex, entire, dark green and lustrous.
2. M. inodora (C).
Flowers monœcious; leaves oblanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, sharply
serrate, dark green and lustrous.
3. M. californica (G).

1. Myrica cerifera L. Wax Myrtle.

Leaves oblanceolate or rarely oblong-lanceolate, acute or rarely gradually narrowed and rounded at apex, cuneate at base, decurrent on short stout petioles, coarsely serrate above the middle or entire, yellow-green, covered above by minute dark glands and below by bright orange-colored glands, 1½′—4′ long and ¼′—½′ wide, with a slender pale midrib often puberulous below, and few obscure arcuate veins, fragrant with a balsamic resinous odor; gradually deciduous at the end of their first year. Flowers in small oblong aments, with ovate acute ciliate scales, those of the staminate plant ½′—¾′ long, about twice as long as those of the pistillate plant; stamens few, with oblong slightly obcordate anthers at first tinged with red, becoming yellow; ovary gradually narrowed into 2 slender spreading stigmas longer than its scale. Fruit in short spikes, ripening in September and October and persistent on the branches during the winter, irregularly deciduous in the spring and early summer, globose, about ⅛′ in diameter, slightly papillose, light green, coated with thick pale blue wax; seed pale, minute.

A tree, occasionally 40° high, with a tall trunk 8′—10′ in diameter, slender upright or slightly spreading branches forming a narrow round-topped head, and slender branchlets marked by small pale lenticels, coated at first with loose rufous tomentum and caducous orange-colored glands, bright red-brown or dark brown tinged with gray, usually lustrous and nearly glabrous during their first winter, finally becoming dark brown; generally smaller, frequently shrubby. Winter-buds oblong, acute, 1/16′—⅛′ long, with numerous ovate acute imbricated scales, the inner scales becoming nearly ½′ long, and often persistent until the young branch has completed its growth. Bark of the trunk ¼′ thick, compact, smooth, light gray. Wood light, soft and brittle, dark brown, with thin lighter-colored sapwood.

Distribution. In the neighborhood of the coast; Cape May, New Jersey, southern Delaware and Maryland to the keys of southern Florida, and through the Gulf states to the shores of Aranzas Pass, San Patricio County, Texas, ranging inland to the neighborhood of Natchez, Jackson County, Mississippi, the valley of the Red River (Natchitoches, Louisiana and Fulton, Arkansas), and to Cherokee County, Texas, and northward to the valley of the Washita River, Arkansas; on the Bermuda and Bahama Islands and on several of the Antilles; most abundant and of its largest size on the south Atlantic and Gulf coasts in sandy swamps and pond holes; the most common woody plant and forming great thickets on the Everglades east of Lake Okeechobee, Florida; in the sandy soil of Pine-barrens and on dry arid hills of the interior, often only a few inches in height, var. _pumila_ Michx.

2. Myrica inodora W. Bartr. Wax Myrtle.

Leaves broadly oblong-obovate or rarely ovate, rounded or sometimes pointed and occasionally apiculate at apex, narrowed at base, decurrent on short stout petioles, entire or rarely obscurely toothed toward the apex, thick and coriaceous, glandular-punctate, dark green and very lustrous above, bright green below, 2′—4′ long, ¾′—1½′ wide, with a broad conspicuously glandular midrib slightly pubescent on the lower side, and few remote slender obscure primary veins forked and arcuate near the much-thickened and revolute margins; gradually deciduous from May until midsummer. Flowers in aments ¾′—1′ long, with ovate acute glandular scales; stamens numerous, with oblong slightly emarginate yellow anthers; pistillate flowers usually in pairs, with an ovate glabrous ovary and slender bright red styles. Fruit produced sparingly in elongated spikes, oblong, ⅓′—½′ long, papillose, black, and covered with a thin coat of white wax; seed oblong-oval, acute at apex, rounded at base, ⅛′ long, bright orange-brown, with a pale yellow hilum.