S A L I X a renarig.
Downy Mountain Willow,
DIOECJA Diandria.
G en . Ch a r . Male,- Cal. the scales o f a catkin. Cor.
none. N e c ta r y a gland at the base o f the stamina,
S iam . 1—-5. Female, Cal. and N e d . like the male,
Cor. none. S tigm a s 2. Caps, superior, o f 1 cell
and 2 valves, Seeds downy.
S p e c . C h a r . Leaves nearly entire, ovate, a cu te ; rer
ticulated and somewhat downy ab o v e; very woolly
and veiny beneath.
Syn. Salix arenaria. L in n . S p . PI. 1447. FI. L a p p ,
ed. 2, 2 9 8 . t. 8 . f . o , q. Sm. FI. B r it. 1058. Galp,
Comp. 8 3.
S. lapponum. L ig h tf. 6 0 4 . H u d s .6 5 1. W ith . 51.
H u ll. 218.
S. n. 2 0 . Gmel. Sib. v . 1. 164. t. 36, f . 1. Herb.
L in n .
S. helvetica. V illa r s D a u p h . v. 3, 7 8 3 , but not
Holler’s t. 14.
D is c o v e r e d on the mountains of Breadalbane by tbe
Rev. Dr. Stuart, who communicated it to Mr. Lightfoot. The
latter* taking it for the lapponum of Linnseus, compiled a
description from FI. Lapp, which does not apply to the present
plant. The original cause of this confusion was Gmelin,
who assured Linnaeus that the figure of Dillenius in Ray’s
Synopsis, t. 1Q.f. 3, was the Linnsean S. arenaria; how erroneously,
may be seen by turning to our argentea, t. 1364,
which is Dillenius’s plant. Villars mistakes the arenaria for
Haller’s t. 14, which is glauca ; see t. 1810.
' S. arenaria is a stout, branched, bushy shrub, 2 or 3 feet
high, flowering in May, with reddish-brown, slightly downy,
twigs. The down is cottony and depressed. Leaves but little
spreading, ovate, acute, entire or slightly waved, somewhat
revolute ; "dark green, reticulated with sunk veins, and clothed
with thin cottony down above; very white and woolly, with
prominent veins, beneath. Stipulas none. Footstalks broad
at the base, not decurrent. Flowering buds very large, gibbous.
Catkins ovate, soon becoming cylindrical, hairy. Stamens
smooth. Capsules (from exoiic specimens) woolly, nearly
sessile. Style long, slender, with slender, deeply cloven,
stigmas.—Dr. Stuart’s male plant with narrower leaves, described
in FI. Brit., is a remarkable variety, if not a distinct
species, approaching to the true S. lappopum.