S A L I X fragilis.
Crack Willow.
DIOECIA Diandria.
Gen. Char. Male, Cal. the scales of a catkin. Cor.
none. Nectary 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. Leaves ovato-lanceolate, pointed, serrated
throughout, very smooth. Footstalks glandular.
Germen ovate. Male flowers with an abortive ger-
men. °
Syn. Salix fragilis. Linn. Sp. PL 1443. Sm. FI.
Brit. 1051. Huds. 426. With. 47. Hull. 218.
Relh. 885. Sibth. 16. Hbbot. 212. Dicks. H.
Sicc.fasc. 16. 5.
S. folio longo latoque splendente, fragilis. Ran Syn.
448. Cant. 143. n. 3.
N o T unfrequent in low marshy grounds, about the banks of
rivers, flowering in May. Several trees of this species are to
be seen at Mill-bank, Westminster, and other parts of that
neighbourhood. The name alludes to its extreme brittleness,
t*1®.sPr'ng> at the base of the young branches, which, with
the slightest blow, start from the trunk. * This circumstance
however is observable in several other smooth willows.
S. fragilis forms a large bushy tree, remarkable for the
crooked position of its branches, and its large, hroad, dark
and shining leaves, which incline to an ovate figure when fully
grown, being more or less rounded towards the base. Their
serratures are numerous, uniform and regular, a little incurved,
glandular, but scarcely viscid. Footstalks glandular at the top.
Stipulas half-heartshaped, toothed. Catkins in separate buds
from the leaves, on shortish leafy stalks. The male ones
yellow, with rounded hairy scales. Stamina from 2 to 5,
smooth, with a rounded nectary, and an incurved abortive
germen. Femalescales longer. Germen inclining to ovate,
smooth, the length of the scale, nearly sessile. Stigmas cloven
to the base, narrow. Style short.
We are now well acquainted with S. decipiens of Hoffmann,
and find it very different from this, R uttisT i’d b y J a .'f Sowcrbv Zandxm.-