Page:Journal of botany, British and foreign, Volume 9 (1871).djvu/391

 AN AERANGEMENT OF THE BRITISH WILLOWS. 3fi3

of the leaves is of a metallic gTeen, bright ami shining. In the Arhus- calre the young shoots are smooth; the stipules generally wanting; under surface of the leaves a (lull green. In Mi/niultes the veins of the intlexed leaves are more prominent below than above; vvliere-is in the Arhnacnlcd they are often more apparent above than b ilow. The peduncle of 8. myi'siuiles is leafless towards the base of the amcnt. 'J'he serratures in S. myrsuiUes are more conspicuous and glandular tiinn in the ArhHscnlfS. S. prucumfjei/s, except in size, is very near S. vii/rsinilt'S. The nectary is a single, short, thick, blunt, pinkish gland.

ii. RiiliGulalfB. Catkins on a leatless stalk, with a leaf opposite and a bud between. Leaves on rather long petioles witiiout stipules. Nectary (?) cloven.

iii. Hcrhaccre. Peduncles short, bifoliate, with roundish, crenato- scrrate, exstipuhito leaves, and axillary buds. Petiole very short. Nectary probably cloven.

S. Grahaiid, Borr., belongs here, and appears related to S. rcfiisa, especially the form S. Kitaihalinna, \V. The heaves are infli;xed when young, almost sessile, with shallow rather remote serratures, shiiiiiig al)ove, paler beneath, and witii prominent veins on the under side, without sti- ])ules. Principal veins nearly parallel, but when held up to the light the leaves are seen to be reticulated with veins between. Nectary single, but sometimes cloven. The Irish Willow, the discovery of which was Te- conhul by Dr. Moore in the ' Journal of Botany,' is as nearly as may be identical with 8. Grahnmi, Borr., and is a very interesting addition to our flora. I believe Dr. Moore correctly refers S. polarU, Forbes, S diet. Bot. t. 63, to S. Grahnmi; S. polaris, Wahl., is very different.

In the above remarks I have confined mysc^lf almost eutircly to the characters of the sections which Professor Babington gives from the writings of Dumortier. This arrangement may eventually be adopted, but the characters appear, as regards the British species, first to need some correction.

Mr. Babington considers the British Willows to be a disgrace to our flora. The discrimination of them is really no easy matter, and allowance should be made for the inherent difliculty of the subject. To be under- stood, the Willows should be cultivated ami observed at dilferent seasons; and a practised eye is more to be relied upon than the characters found in books. This qualification no one ever possessed more perfectly than the lamented Mr. Borrer. To a thorough knowledge of the suliject he added the utmost willingness to impart his knowledge to others, and to enrich their collections from his abundant store both of specimens and living plants. No botanist ever took a more natural and comprehensive view of the genus. No diff(!rence, however slight, escaped his notice or failed to have due weight attacluul to it. He was one who, as he himself expressed it, had no theory to support, but sought only to understand nature. A remark of the learned Fries will fitly conclude these observa- tions, which I fear have run on to too great a length, " Charactcres non specierum sunt criteria, sed ad species dignosceudas adminicula. Ex his' niodo species agnoscuntur, ex v(!gctationis indole cognosciintur. . . . Mine Lmujuus in speciebus discernendis non charactcres sed oculorum judiciiipie acicm laudat."

�� �