This species, to wliich Lionæus seems to have assigned th e name o f d ilatata, e ith e r from
th e c ircumstance o f th e g re a le r expansion o f th e leaves towards th e extrem ity o f th e fertile
branches, o r fi'om th e whole p lan t spre ading an d ex ten d in g its e lf o n th e tru n k s o f tre e s, has
many ch aracters in common ivith J . Tamarisci, and is frequently confounded w ith i t , n o t only
hy yo u n g botanists, b u t by au th o rs on th e subje c t. I t differs, however, in its place o f grow th ,
which is a lm o st universally upo n th e stems o f tre e s ; in its more closely im b ric a ted and com-
jiact su rcu li ; in its smaller size ; and in its vague ramification. T h e auricles a re also la rg e r
in p roportion to th e le a f an d m ore o rbicula r ¡ th e perichætia l leaves a re obtuse a t th e apices,
nci’e r sei'rated ; and, w h a t will afford a still more c e rta in m a rk o f d isc rimina tion th a n any yet
m entioned, th e stipules never have th e ir mai'gins revolute , b u t constantly plane. T h e whole
p lan t, also, entire ly w an ts th e gloss which generally appeal's on th e surface o f J . Tamarisci.
Miche li, whose figures o f J . d ilatata a n d Tamarisci tole rably well express th e respective
h ab it and ramific a tion o f e a ch, has fa llen in to a s tra n g e e r ro r in a ttr ib u tin g to th e fo rm e r of
these p lan ts only two pa ir o f leaves (m e an in g th e p a ir o f leaves a n d th e ir accompanying
a u ric le s ), a n d he has on th a t a c co u n t removed i t to a diffe rent division from th a t which
con ta in s J . Tamarisci, which he rig h tly enough asc e rta ined to have five different leaves, in a
series ; th a t is, th e two leai’es, tw o auricles, and a stipule .
Dillenius, Weber, a n d Weis, have followed th e m istake o f Micheli ; an d , a lth o u g h Schmidel
has given a m o st excellent a n d e labora te d e sc ription o f this species in th e place above quoted,
y e t he has do n e i t u n d e r th e name o f tamariscifolia, su p p o sin g i t to be th e J . Tamarisci o f
L innæus, a n d ha s rem a rk ed th a t J . d ilatata L . “ differt sq ua tnâ in p a rte infimâ u n ic à , u t
Dillenius d e sc rib it e t p in g it. ” He proceeds, however, to describe th e in tr ic a te s tru c tu r e o f
th e foliage in th e following w o rd s : “ In frà in caule folíola a lte rn a n t laxiùa , supe rnè vero
pressissimè s u n t a lte rn a . In superficie posticci calix exc ip itu r q u a tu o r, u t v id e tu r, foliolis,
duobus la te ra lib u s, duo b u s iu te rm ediis, s ingulis, u t v id e tu r, com m u n itè r bifidis, vel saltern
e x o v a to a cu tis , p o s t hæc deorsùm tr ia semper folíola in te r se a lte rn a n t, nempe d u o la te ra lia ,
u n um a lte ro paullo a ltiùs lo c a tum , inte rm ed ium te r tium ; p rim a p a ria h o ru ra la te ra lium
a cu ih in a ta su n t, in te rm ed ia e tiam , semper vero bifid a ; u b i vero ad infe riora caulis e t q iia rtum
c irc ite r p a r foliorum pei'venitur, o b tu s io ra fiu n t la te ra lia , e t conv o lv u n tu r versus cauleni,
cochleæ m o re , adeo u t o rb ic u la ta s. p e lta ta quasi ad p a re an t. E rg o p ro p riè quinqué ordines
su n t fo liorum, u t M ic h e l iu s etiam vuU, nempe a n tic é duo ordine s, laterales d u o , q uorum
infe riore s co chle a tim co n v o lv u n tu r, medite inferiores semper b ifidæ.” T h is a u th o r bo th figures
and describes th e seeds to be o f a gre enish color. “ Capsula tandem d irim itu r, ” he says, “ in
q u a tu o r la c inia s s a t la ta s , e t in conspectum v en it pulvis g ran u lo su s, obscure viridis a u t luteoUis,
c riniculis min u tis in hæren s. ”
F o r specimens c o n ta in in g th e male fruc tific a tion o f J . dila ta ta I am in d ebted to th e k in d ness
o f Mr. Lyell, who g a th e red th em in th e New F o re st, H an ts , on th e 2 I s t o f M a rch , 1812,
(too la te fo r me to have them figured in th e pla te ,) and d ire c ted my a tte n tio n to th e A n th e r-
bearing ramuli by th e following rem a rk : “ J . d ilatata with branche s in which th e leaves are
so closely im b ric a ted as to conc e a l th e ir a lte rn a te p o sitio n , and form a s trap w ith a deep
fu rrow down th e middle. ” T h e a lte rn a te position o f th e leaves, however, is rendered more
visible in a dry s ta te by th e ir edges tu rn in g u p a little , and th en th e simila rity o f th e shoots
to those o f / , concinnata is very s trik in g . These b ran ch e s, a fte r su p p o rtin g and g iv in g no u rish -