S A L IX F o rb ia n a t
Basket Osier.
DIOECIA Diandria.
Gen. Char. Male, Cal. the scales of a catkin» Cor.
none. Nettary a gland at the base of the stamina.
Stam. 1— 5. Female, Cal. and Nect. like the male.
Cor. none. Stigmas 2. Caps, superior, of 1 cell
and 2 valves. Seeds downy»
Spec. Char. Erect. Stamen one. Leaves with small
stipules, lanceolate, acute, finely toothed, smooth,
glaucous beneath. Stigmas linear.
Syn. Salix Forbiana. Sm. FI. Brit. 1041.
S. fissa. Relh. 385. Tr. o f Linn. Soc. v. 6. 1 1 5 j
but not of Hoffmann.
T h i s , which is highly valuable, as an Osiet, for the finer
kinds of basket work, and on that account greatly preferred to
the foregoing, was first sent to Mr. Crowe by the late Rev.
Joseph Forby, from Fincham, Norfolk. It has since been
observed in many places in Cambridgeshire. We had long
thought it Hoffmann’s S. fis sa : but authentic specimens of
that at length undeceived us; neither is the stamen cloven, but
simple anamonandrous.as in S. Helix. We have once luckily
found 1 or 2 male flowers at the base of a female catkin, which
served to decide this point; for the true male plant we have
not seen. The name may serve to commemorate the original
discoverer, or more especially his brother the Rev. Rob. Forby,
an able botanist.
The leaves in this are alternate, rarely almost opposite, truly
lanceolate, pointed, of a darker green above, and more thickly
toothed or serrated, than in the last; glaucous beneath. Stipulae
small, lanceolate, acute, often wanting. Catkins sessile, so
very like in all their parts to S. Helix that they can hardly be
distinguished; but the leaves afford sufficient marks of difference,
and the quality of the twigs renders the plant well worth
observation. It flowers in April.