In San Bernardino and San Diego Counties, California, generally replaced by the var. pubescens Sarg., differing in its pubescent branchlets and ranging eastward to southwestern Nevada and southern Utah. In southern Arizona and near Silver City, Grant County, New Mexico, represented by the var. Thornberii Sarg., differing from the typical P. Fremontii in the more numerous serratures of the leaves, in the ellipsoidal not ovoid capsules with smaller disk and shorter pedicels, and by the var. Toumeyi Sarg., differing from the type in the shallow cordate base of the leaves, gradually narrowed and cuneate to the insertion of the petiole, and in the larger disk of the fruit (Fig. 124). The var. macrodisca Sarg. with a broad disc nearly inclosing the ellipsoidal fruit is known only in the neighborhood of Silver City.
× Populus Parryi Sarg., a probable hybrid of P. Fremontii and P. trichocarpa, with characters intermediate between those of its supposed parents, grows naturally along Cottonwood Creek on the west side of Owens Lake, Inyo County, and in the neighborhood of Fort Tejon, Kern County, and as a street tree is not rare in San Bernardino, California.
9. Populus arizonica Sarg. Cottonwood.
Populus mexicana Sarg., not Wesm.
Leaves deltoid or reniform, gradually or abruptly long-pointed at the acuminate entire apex, truncate or broad-cuneate at the wide base, finely serrate with numerous teeth, as they unfold dark red covered below with pale pubescence, pubescent above, ciliate on the margins, thin, glandular with bright red caducous glands, soon becoming glabrous, at maturity subcoriaceous, bright yellow-green, very lustrous, 1½′—2′ long and broad, with a slender yellow midrib and obscure primary veins; petioles laterally compressed, sparingly villose when they first appear, soon glabrous, 1½′—2′ long; leaves on vigorous leading shoots often rounded at apex, cuneate at base, and often 2′ long and 3′ wide, with petioles often 3′ in length. Flowers: staminate aments dense, cylindric, 1—1½′ long, the pistillate slender, many-flowered, 1½′—2′ long, becoming 3′—4′ long before the fruit ripens; disk of the staminate flower broad-oblong; stamens numerous; disk of the pistillate flower deep cup-shaped, nearly entire; ovary ovoid, rounded at apex, slightly 3 or 4-angled, short-stalked, nearly inclosed in the cup-shaped membranaceous disk. Fruit on short stout pedicels, round-ovoid, buff color, slightly 3 or 4-lobed, deeply pitted, thin-walled, about ¼′ long.
A tree, 50°—70° high, with a trunk occasionally 3° in diameter, gracefully spreading and ascending branches forming a broad open head of wide-spreading branches, and slender often pendulous branchlets, pale green and glabrous or puberulous when they first appear, soon becoming glabrous, and light yellow during their first season. Winter-buds narrow, acute, light orange-brown, puberulous toward the base of the outer scales, the terminal about ¼′ long, and two or three times as large as the much-compressed oblong lateral buds. Bark pale gray or rarely white, and deeply divided into broad flat ridges.
Distribution. Banks of mountain streams; southwestern California (Mill Creek, above Forest Home, San Bernardino Mountains) and southern and central Arizona; widely distributed through northern Mexico (var. Jonesii Sarg.); well distinguished from the other Cottonwoods of the United States by its small fruit.
Often planted as a street tree in the towns of southern Arizona.
10. Populus texana Sarg.
Leaves thin, glabrous, broadly ovate, gradually narrowed, long-pointed and acuminate at apex, truncate at base, coarsely crenately serrate below the middle, entire above, 3′—3¼′ long and 2¼′—2½′ wide; petioles slender, compressed, 1½′—2½′ in length. Flowers not seen. Fruit: aments slender, glabrous, 2½′—3′ long; fruit oblong-ovoid, acute, deeply pitted, glabrous, thin-walled, 3-valved, ⅓′ in length; disk slightly lobed; pedicel slender, 1/16′—⅛′ in length; seeds ovoid, acuminate, 1/16′ long.
A tree up to 60° high, with a trunk sometimes 3° in diameter, stout more or less pendulous branches and stout glabrous pale yellow-brown branchlets. Winter-buds acuminate, glabrous.
In cañons and along the streams of northwestern Texas, where it appears to be the only Cottonwood.
11. Populus McDougallii Rose.
Leaves broadly ovate, abruptly short-pointed or acute at apex, broadly or acutely cuneate or truncate, or on vigorous shoots rarely slightly cordate at base, finely or often coarsely crenately serrate, bluish green, thin, pubescent on the under sides of the midrib and primary veins early in the season, otherwise glabrous, 1½′—3′ long and broad, with slender midribs and veins; petioles slender, slightly compressed, pubescent early in the season, becoming glabrous, 1½′—2′ in length. Flowers not seen. Fruit: aments glabrous, short-stalked, 2′—2½′ long; fruit ovoid and acute at apex to ellipsoidal and acute or acuminate at ends, glabrous, slightly pitted, thin-walled, 3-valved, 5/12′—½′ long; disk not more than ⅛′ in diameter; pedicels glabrous, ⅛′—⅕′ in length; seeds oblong-ovoid, acuminate, ⅛′ long.
A tree rarely 90°—110° high, usually much smaller, with erect branches and slender branchlets pubescent or puberulous when they first appear, sometimes becoming glabrous during their first season, and sometimes pubescent during two years.
Distribution. Banks of streams and springs, San Bernardino County, California (Cottonwood Springs, Meca, etc.), and eastward to the bottoms of the Colorado River from Clark County, Nevada, to Yuma, Arizona, and probably the only Cottonwood in this arid region.
Often planted as a street tree in the towns of southwestern California and of adjacent Nevada and Arizona.
12. Populus Wislizenii Sarg. Cottonwood.
Leaves broadly deltoid, abruptly short- or long-pointed at apex, truncate or sometimes cordate at the broad entire base, coarsely and irregularly crenately serrate except toward the entire apex, coriaceous, glabrous, yellow-green and lustrous, 2′—2½′ long, usually about 3′ wide, with a slender yellow midrib, thin remote primary veins and conspicuous reticulate veinlets; petioles slender, glabrous, 1½′—2′ long; on vigorous shoots often 3½′—4′ long and wide with petioles 3½′—4′ in length. Flowers: aments 2′—4′ long, the pistillate becoming 4′—5′ long before the fruit ripens; scales scarious, light red, divided at the apex into elongated filiform lobes; disk of the staminate flower broad and oblique; stamens numerous, with large oblong anthers and short filaments; disk of the pistillate flower cup-shaped, irregularly dentate, inclosing to the middle the long stalked ovary full and rounded at apex, with 3 broad crenulate lobed stigmas raised on the short branches of the style. Fruit oblong-ovoid, thick-walled, acute, 3 or 4-valved, slightly ridged, buff color, ¼′ long; pedicels slender, ½′—¾′ in length and placed rather remotely on the slender glabrous rachis of the ament.
A large tree, with wide-spreading branches, and stout light orange-colored glabrous branchlets. Winter-buds acute lustrous, puberulous. Bark pale gray-brown, deeply divided into broad flat ridges. Wood used as fuel, for fence-posts and the rafters of Mexican houses.
Distribution. Western Texas through New Mexico to the valley of Grand River, western Colorado (Grand Junction, Mesa County); common in the valley of the Rio Grande in western Texas and New Mexico, and the adjacent parts of Mexico.
Often planted as a shade tree in New Mexico.
13. Populus Sargentii Dode.
Populus deltoides var. occidentalis Rydb.
Leaves ovate, usually longer than broad, abruptly narrowed into a long slender entire acuminate point or rarely rounded at apex, truncate or slightly cordate at base, and coarsely crenately serrate, as they unfold slightly villose above and tomentose on the margins, soon glabrous, light green and very lustrous, 3′—3½′ long, 3½′—4′ wide, with a thin midrib, slender primary veins and reticulate veinlets occasionally furnished on the upper side at the insertion of the petiole with one or two small glands; petioles slender, compressed laterally, 2½′—3½′ long. Flowers: aments short-stalked, glabrous, the staminate 2′—2½′ in length, the pistillate becoming 4′—8′ long before the fruit ripens; scales fimbriately divided at apex, scarious, light brown; disk of the staminate flower broad, oblique, slightly thickened on the margins; stamens 20 or more, with short filaments and yellow anthers; disk of the pistillate flower cup-shaped, slightly lobed on the margin; ovary subglobose, with 3 or 4 sessile dilated or laciniately lobed stigmas. Fruit oblong-ovoid, gradually or abruptly narrowed to the blunt apex, thin-walled, about ⅖′ long and three or four times longer than the pedicel; seeds oblong-obovoid, rounded at apex, about 1/16′ in length.
A tree 60°—90° tall with a trunk often 6° or 7° in diameter, erect and spreading branches forming a broad open head, and stout glabrous light yellow often angular branchlets conspicuously roughened by the elevated scars of fallen leaf-stalks. Winter-buds ovoid, acute, with light orange-brown puberulous scales. Bark pale, thick, divided by deep fissures into broad rounded ridges broken into closely appressed scales.
Distribution. The common Cottonwood along the streams in the eastern foothill region of the Rocky Mountains from Saskatchewan to New Mexico, and ranging east to the Dakotas, western Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas.
Often planted as a shade and street tree in the Rocky Mountain states; hardy in Massachusetts.
14. Populus balsamifera L. Cottonwood.
Populus angulata Michx. f.
Leaves ovate, longer than broad, abruptly acuminate and often long-pointed at apex, subcordate or rarely truncate at the wide base, finely crenately serrate with glandular teeth, furnished on the upper surface at the insertion of the petiole with two glands, thick, glabrous, green and lustrous on the upper surface, paler below, 5′—7′ long and 4′—5′ wide, with stout midribs and conspicuous primary veins sometimes sparingly pilose below early in the season; petioles much compressed laterally, often more or less tinged with red, 3′—4′ in length. Flowers: aments glabrous, short-stalked, the staminate densely flowered, 1½′—2′ long, ½′—¾′ in diameter, the pistillate slender, sparsely flowered, 3′—3½′ in length; scales scarious, light brown, glabrous, dilated and irregularly divided at apex into filiform lobes; disk of the staminate flower broad, oblique, slightly thickened and revolute on the margins; stamens 60 or more, with short filaments and large dark red anthers; disk of the pistillate flower broad, slightly crenate, inclosing about ⅓′ of the ovoid obtusely pointed ovary, with 3 or 4 sessile dilated laciniately lobed stigmas. Fruit on aments 8′—12′ in length, ellipsoidal, pointed, thin-walled, 3 or 4-valved, ⅓′ long, the disk little enlarged; pedicels ⅙′—¼′ in length; seeds oblong-obovoid, rounded at apex, light brown, about 1/12′ long.
A large tree with massive spreading branches and stout yellow-brown often angular branchlets. Winter-buds resinous, acute, ½′ long with light chestnut brown lustrous scales.
Distribution. Shores of Lake Champlain (Shelburne Point, Chittenden County), Vermont; western New York; Island of the Delaware River above Easton, Northampton County, Pennsylvania; Baltimore County, and Bare Hills, Maryland; northern banks of the Potomac River opposite Plummer’s Island near Washington, D.C.; Artisia, Lowndes County, and Starkville, Oktibbeha County, Mississippi; rare and local.
Populus balsamifera var. virginiana Sarg. Cottonwood.
Populus deltoidea Marsh. at least in part.
Populus nigra β virginiana Castiglioni.
Leaves deltoid to ovate-deltoid, acuminate with entire points, truncate, slightly cordate or occasionally abruptly cuneate at the entire base, crenately serrate above, with incurved glandular teeth, fragrant with a balsamic odor, glabrous, thick and firm, light bright green and lustrous, paler on the lower than on the upper surface, 3′—5′ long and broad, with a stout yellow midrib often tinged with red toward the base, raised and rounded on the upper side, and conspicuous primary veins; petioles slender, pilose at first, soon glabrous, compressed laterally, yellow often more or less tinged with red, 2½′—3½′ long. Flowers and Fruit: as on the type.
A tree, sometimes 100° high, with a trunk occasionally 7°—8° in diameter, divided often 20°—30° above the ground into several massive limbs spreading gradually and becoming pendulous toward the ends, and forming a graceful rather open head frequently 100° across, or on young trees nearly erect above and spreading below almost at right angles with the stem, and forming a symmetrical pyramidal head, and stout branchlets marked with long pale lenticels, terete, or, especially on vigorous trees, becoming angled in their second year, with thin more or less prominent wings extending downward from the two sides and from the base of the large 3-lobed leaf-scars. Winter-buds very resinous, ovoid, acute, the lateral much flattened, ½′ long, with 6 or 7 light chestnut-brown lustrous scales. Bark thin, smooth, light yellow tinged with green on young stems and branches, becoming on old trunks 1½′—2′ thick, ashy gray, and deeply divided into broad rounded ridges broken into closely appressed scales. Wood dark brown, with thick nearly white sapwood, warping badly in drying and difficult to season.
Distribution. Banks of streams, often forming extensive open groves, and toward the western limits of its range occasionally in upland ravines and on bluffs; Province of Quebec and the shores of Lake Champlain, through western New England, western New York, Pennsylvania west of the Allegheny Mountains, and westward to southern Minnesota, North and South Dakota, eastern Nebraska, eastern Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas, and southward through the Atlantic states from Delaware to western Florida, and through the Gulf states to western Texas (Brown County). In the south Atlantic states and the valley of the Lower Ohio River and southward sometimes replaced by a variety with leaves covered above when they unfold with soft white hairs and below with close pubescence more or less persistent during the season especially on the midribs and veins (var. pilosa Sarg.).
Often planted for shelter and ornament on the treeless plains and prairies between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains, and as an ornamental tree in the eastern United States and largely in western and northern Europe.
× Populus canadensis Moench, believed to be a hybrid between the northern glabrous form of P. balsamifera and the European P. nigra L., with several varieties, is cultivated in Europe and occasionally in the United States. The best known of these varieties, × P. canadensis var. Eugenie Schelle, the Carolina Poplar of American nurseries, believed to be a hybrid of the northern Cottonwood with the Lombardy Poplar, has been planted in the United States in immense numbers.
× Populus Jackii Sarg., believed to be a hybrid of the northern Cottonwood with P. tacamahacca, with characters intermediate between those of its supposed parents, grows spontaneously near the mouth of the Chateaugay River and at Beauharnois, Province of Quebec, and at South Haven, Michigan, and is now occasionally cultivated.
15. Populus Palmeri Sarg.
Leaves thin, ovate, gradually or abruptly contracted at apex into a narrow acuminate entire point, cuneate or rounded at the broad base, finely serrate with incurved teeth, ciliate on the margins when they unfold, otherwise glabrous, 2½′—5′ long and 1½′—2¼′ wide; petioles slender, glabrous, 1½′—2½′ in length. Flowers not seen. Fruit: aments glabrous, 12—15 cm. long; fruit ovoid, obtuse, slightly pitted, puberulous, thin-walled, 4-valved, ¼′—⅓′ long, the disk deeply lobed; pedicel slender, ¼′—⅓′ in length.
A tree 60° tall, with a straight trunk 3° in diameter, erect smooth pale branches forming an open pyramidal head, the lower branches smaller, horizontal or pendulous, and slender glabrous branchlets light reddish brown early in the season, becoming pale grayish brown in their second year. Bark pale, 3′—4′ thick, deeply divided by wide fissures into narrow ridges.
Distribution. In moist fertile soil near springs, at the base of high chalky bluffs of Nueces Cañon of the upper Nueces River, Uvalde County, growing with Salix nigra var. Lindheimeri, Carya pecan, Morus rubra and Ulmus crassifolia, and at Strawn, Palo Pinto County, Texas.
2. SALIX L. Willow.
Trees or shrubs, with watery juice, scaly bark, soft wood, slender terete tough branchlets often easily separated at the joints, and winter-buds covered by a single scale of 2 coats, the inner membranaceous, stipular, rarely separable from the outer, inclosing at its base 2 minute opposite lateral buds alternate with 2 small scale-like caducous leaves coated with long pale or rufous hairs. Leaves variously folded in the bud, alternate, simple, lanceolate, obovate, rotund or linear, penniveined; petioles sometimes glandular at the apex, and more or less covering the bud, in falling leaving U-shaped or arcuate elevated leaf-scars displaying the ends of 3 small equidistant fibro-vascular bundles; stipules oblique, serrate, small and deciduous, or foliaceous and often persistent, generally large and conspicuous on vigorous young branches, leaving in falling minute persistent scars. Flowers in sessile or stalked aments, terminal and axillary on leafy branchlets; scales of the ament lanceolate, concave, rotund or obovate, entire or glandular-dentate, of uniform color or dark-colored toward the apex, more or less hairy, deciduous or persistent; disk of the flower nectariferous, composed of an anterior and posterior or of a single posterior gland-like body; stamens 3—12 or 1 or 2, inserted on the base of the scale, with slender filaments free or rarely united and usually light yellow, glabrous, or hairy toward the base, and small ovoid or oblong anthers generally rose-colored before anthesis, becoming orange or purple; ovary sessile or stipitate, conic, obtuse to subulate-rostrate, glandular at the base, glabrous, tomentose or villose, with an abbreviated style divided into 2 short recurved retuse or 2-parted stigmas; ovules 4—8 on each of the 2 placentas. Fruit an acuminate 1-celled capsule separating at maturity into 2 recurved valves. Seeds minute, narrowed at the ends, dark chestnut-brown or nearly black; cotyledons oblong.
Salix inhabits the banks of streams and low moist ground, the alpine summits of mountains, and the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions of the northern hemisphere, ranging south in the New World, with a few species, through the West Indies and Central America to Brazil, and the Andes of Chile, and in the Old World to Madagascar, southern Africa, the Himalayas, Burmah, the Malay peninsula, Java, and Sumatra. Of the 160 or 170 species which are now recognized about seventy are found in North America. Of these twenty-four attain the size and habit of trees, the others being small and sometimes prostrate shrubs. Of exotic species, Salix alba L., and Salix fragilis L., important European timber-trees, are now generally naturalized in the northeastern states. The flexible tough branches of several species are used in making baskets; the bark is rich in tannic acid and is used in tanning leather and yields salicin, a bitter principle valuable as a tonic. Many of the species are cultivated as ornamental trees.
Salix is the classical name of the Willow-tree.
CONSPECTUS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN ARBORESCENT SPECIES
- Scales of the flowers deciduous, pale straw color.
- Stamens 3 or more.
- Leaves green on both surfaces; petioles without glands at the base of the leaves; branchlets easily separable.
- Branchlets reddish or grayish purple; leaves mostly narrow-lanceolate; capsule glabrous.
- 1. S. nigra (A, C, E).
- Branchlets yellowish-gray; leaves lanceolate to elliptic-lanceolate; capsule often more or less pubescent.
- 2. S. Gooddingii (F, G, H).
- Leaves (at least when fully grown) pale or glaucous below.
- Petioles without glands.
- Branchlets easily separable.
- Leaves narrow-lanceolate to lanceolate; petioles less than ½′ long.
- 3. S. Harbisonii (C).
- Leaves lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, caudate; petioles ½′—¾′ long.
- 4. S. amygdaloides (A, B).
- Branchlets not easily separable.
- Capsules short-stalked (pedicels hardly more than 1/24′ long), ovoid-conic, up to ⅕′ in length; leaves more or less narrow-lanceolate, petioles glabrous or nearly so.
- 5. S. Bonplandiana (H).
- Capsules long-stalked (pedicels 1/12′—⅙′ long), more or less acuminate.
- Petioles puberulous; leaves lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate; stipules without glands on their inner surface; capsules hardly more than ¼′ long.
- 6. S. lævigata (G, F).
- Petioles hairy-tomentose; leaves lanceolate; stipules glandular on their inner surface; capsules ¼′—¾′ long.
- 7. S. longipes (C, D).
- Petioles glandular; leaves lanceolate to broadly ovate, caudate; branchlets easily separable.
- Leaves distinctly pale or glaucous below, lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate.
- 8. S. lasiandra (B, G).
- Leaves pale green below, ovate to elliptic-lanceolate, abruptly caudate-acuminate.
- 9. S. lucida (A).
- Stamens 2.
- Stigmas linear, 4 or 5 times longer than broad.
- Leaves linear, hardly more than ⅓′ long; anthers very small, globose; aments small, in fruit hardly up to ⅘′ in length.
- 10. S. taxifolia (H).
- Leaves linear-lanceolate to elliptic-lanceolate; up to 2′ in length; anthers ellipsoid; aments longer.
- 11. S. sessilifolia (B, G).
- Stigmas short, hardly 2 or 3 times longer than broad.
- Mature leaves covered below with appressed white silky hairs, those of flowering branchlets entire or barely denticulate.
- 12. S. exigua (B, F, G).
- Mature leaves glabrous below, those of flowering branchlets more or less distinctly denticulate.
- 13. S. longifolia (A, F).
- Scales of the flowers persistent, dark brown or fuscous, at least toward the apex (in S. Bebbiana more or less straw-colored or tawny).
- Stamens 2.
- Ovaries glabrous.
- Leaves more or less denticulate or serrate; styles short.
- Base of leaf cuneate or rounded.
- Leaves acute, oblanceolate to narrowly lanceolate; filaments mostly united below.
- 14. S. lasiolepis (G).
- Leaves mostly acuminate; filaments free.
- Branchlets glabrous, lustrous; leaves oblanceolate to narrowly obovate, up to 2′ in length; pedicels ⅛′—⅙′ long; stipules small.
- 15. S. Mackenzieana (A, G).
- Branchlets pubescent; leaves narrowly lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, 4′—6′ long; pedicels 1.5—2.5 mm. long.
- 16. S. missouriensis (A).
- Base of leaf mostly more or less cordate; leaves glabrous; filaments free; pedicels long.
- 17. S. pyrifolia (A).
- Leaves entire, oval to broad-obovate; branchlets villose-pubescent during their first season.
- 18. S. amplifolia.
- Ovaries pubescent (glabrous often in No. 23).
- Leaves covered with a soft dense felt-like tomentum, oblong-lanceolate to elliptic-lanceolate.
- 19. S. alaxensis (B).
- Leaves glabrous or more or less villose-pubescent below.
- Bracts of the flowers pale or tawny, often reddish at the tip; pedicels up to ⅕′ in length; leaves elliptic-lanceolate to obovate, reticulate beneath in age, pubescent or glabrate.
- 20. S. Bebbiana.
- Bracts of the flowers brown or fuscous.
- Stipules more or less distinctly developed; pedicels several times longer than the short styles.
- Leaves elliptic-lanceolate to oblong-elliptic; mostly glabrous in age.
- 21. S. discolor (A, B, F).
- Leaves oblanceolate to cuneate-obovate, covered beneath with short hairs or at maturity with a gray villose-pubescence.
- 22. S. Scouleriana (A, B).
- Stipules usually wanting; pedicels hardly longer than the distinct styles; leaves broad-elliptic to obovate-oblong, more or less grayish villose beneath.
- 23. S. Hookeriana (B, G).
- Stamens usually 1; leaves obovate-oblong, densely covered below with lustrous silvery white silky tomentum.
- 24. S. sitchensis (B, G).
1. Salix nigra Marsh. Black Willow.
Leaves lanceolate, long-acuminate, often falcate, gradually cuneate or rounded at base, finely serrate, thin bright light green, rather lustrous, with obscure reticulate veins, glabrous or often pubescent on the under side of the midribs and veins and on the short slender petioles, 3′—6′ long, ⅛′—¾′ wide; at the north turning light yellow before falling in the autumn; stipules semicordate, acuminate, foliaceous, persistent, or ovoid, minute, and deciduous. Flowers: aments terminal on leafy pubescent branches, narrowly cylindric, 1′—3′ long; scales yellow, elliptic to obovate, rounded at apex and coated on the inner surface with pale hairs; stamens 3—5, with filaments hairy toward the base; ovary ovoid, short-stalked, glabrous, gradually narrowed above the middle to the apex, with nearly sessile slightly divided stigmatic lobes. Fruit ovoid-conic, short-stalked, glabrous, about ⅛′ long, light reddish brown.
A tree, usually 30°—40° high, with usually several clustered stout stems, thick spreading upright branches forming a broad somewhat irregular open head, and reddish brown or gray-brown branchlets pubescent when they first appear, soon glabrous, and easily separated at the joints. Winter-buds acute, about ⅛′ long. Bark 1′—1¼′ thick, dark brown or nearly black and deeply divided into broad flat connected ridges separating freely into thick plate-like scales and becoming shaggy on old trunks. Wood light, soft, weak, light reddish brown, with thin nearly white sapwood; now sawed into lumber in the valley of the lower Mississippi River and largely used for packing cases, cellar and barn floors, in furniture, and in the manufacture of toys and other purposes where strength is not important as it does not warp, check or splinter.
Distribution. Low moist alluvial banks of streams and lakes; southern New Brunswick through southern Quebec and Ontario to the region north of Lake Superior, southward to northern and western North Carolina, through the Piedmont region of South Carolina and Georgia to eastern and central Alabama, and westward to southeastern North Dakota, eastern South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, the valley of Wichita River, Oklahoma, and central and western Texas to Valverde County.
In southern Arkansas, in Louisiana and in eastern Texas Salix nigra is often replaced by var. altissima Sarg., differing from the type in the more pubescent young branchlets, leaves and petioles, in the more acute base of the leaves and longer petioles, and in its later flowering. A tree sometimes 120 feet high and the tallest of American Willows.
Salix nigra var. Lindheimeri Schn.
Salix Wrightii Sarg., not Anders.
Leaves lanceolate, often slightly falcate, long-pointed and acuminate at apex, cuneate at base, finely glandular-serrate, glabrous, light green on the upper surface, paler below, 4′—5′ long, ⅓′—½′ wide; petioles pubescent early in the season, becoming glabrous, ½′—¾′ in length. Flowers: aments slender, densely villose, 2′—3′ long; scales ovate, acute or rarely rounded at apex, covered with matted white hairs, more abundant on the inner surface; stamens 4 or 5; filaments villose below the middle; ovary ovoid, gradually narrowed to the apex, the 2-lobed stigmas nearly sessile. Fruit ovoid-conic; pedicels about ¼′ long.
A tree, 50°—70° high with a trunk often 3° in diameter, large erect spreading branches forming an open irregular head, and slender branchlets light green and slightly pubescent when they first appear, becoming light orange or yellow-brown and lustrous. Bark thick, pale yellow-brown, deeply furrowed, the surface sometimes separating into long plate-like scales.
Distribution. River banks, central and western Texas from Grayson and Dallas Counties and the lower valley of the Brazos River to the valleys of the San Antonio and upper Guadalupe Rivers; in Coahuila, Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas.
2. Salix Gooddingii Ball.
Salix vallicola Britt.
Leaves lanceolate to narrow elliptic-lanceolate, acute or acuminate, acutely cuneate at base, finely glandular-serrate, often slightly falcate, silky pubescent when they unfold especially below, glabrous and dull green at maturity, 1½′—3′ long, ¼′—½′ wide, or on vigorous shoots 5′ or 6′ long and ¾′ wide; petioles pubescent, usually becoming glabrous, ⅙′—¼′ in length; stipules orbicular-cordate, coarsely glandular-serrate, pubescent. Flowers: aments pubescent terminal on leafy pubescent branchlets, narrow-cylindric, 1′—2′ long; scales linear-oblanceolate, acute, yellow, hoary tomentose; stamens 3—5; filaments villose toward the base; ovary ovoid-conic, gradually narrowed to the acuminate apex, pubescent or glabrous; style distinct, 2-lobed. Fruit ovoid, acute, light reddish brown, glabrous or pubescent, ¼′ long; pedicels glabrous or rarely pubescent, 1/16′—⅛′ in length.
A tree, 25°—50° high, with slender light orange-colored or grayish glabrous or pubescent easily separable branchlets. Bark rough, thick, deeply furrowed, sometimes nearly black.
Distribution. River banks; Reed Creek, Shasta County, and Red Bluff, Tehama County, California, southward in the interior valleys and on the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada to the mountain valleys in the southern part of the state, and to northern Lower California; eastward through central and southern Arizona; in southeastern Nevada; through southern New Mexico to western Texas (El Paso, El Paso County, and Fort Davis, Jeff Davis County); and southward into northern Mexico.
3. Salix Harbisonii Schn.
Leaves linear-lanceolate, narrow-elliptic or rarely obovate-lanceolate, acute or short-acuminate, obtusely or acutely cuneate at the base, and finely glandular dentate; when the flowers open more or less pubescent especially below or glabrous, and at maturity green on the upper surface, pale on the lower surface, glabrous, 4′ or 5′ long, ¾′ broad; petioles villose early in the season, becoming glabrous, ¼′ in length, minutely glandular at apex; stipules wanting or minute, semicordate, acute, pubescent on vigorous leading branches and sometimes ¼′ long. Flowers: aments terminal on leafy branchlets, 2½′—3′ in length, their rachis villose-pubescent; scales ovate or ovate-oblong, obtuse or acute; stamens usually 5—7, rarely 3—9; filaments densely villose; ovary ovoid, long-acuminate, glabrous, long-stalked; style short, distinct, 2-lobed. Fruit acuminate and long-pointed, acute at base, ¼′ long and about as long as its pedicel.
A tree, 30°—50° high, with a trunk 10′ or 12′ in diameter, with often pendulous branches, and slender branchlets more or less densely pubescent or tomentose or nearly glabrous when they first appear, becoming glabrous and dark reddish purple in their second season, and easily separable at the joints; often only a large shrub. Bark thick, deeply furrowed, dark red-brown, separating on the surface into small appressed scales.
Distribution. River banks and the borders of swamps; Dismal Swamp, Norfolk County, Virginia; near Goldsboro, Wayne County, North Carolina; common in the coast region of South Carolina and Georgia, extending up the Savannah River at least as far as Augusta, Richmond County, and through southern Georgia to the valley of the Flint River; swamps near Jacksonville, Duval County, and in the neighborhood of Apalachicola, Florida.
4. Salix amygdaloides Anders. Peach Willow. Almond Willow.
Leaves lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, frequently falcate, gradually or abruptly narrowed into a long slender point, cuneate or gradually rounded and often unequal at base, finely serrate, slightly puberulous when they unfold, becoming at maturity thin and firm in texture, light green and lustrous above, pale and glaucous below, 2½′—4′ long, ¾′—1¼′ wide, with a stout yellow or orange-colored midrib, prominent veins and reticulate veinlets; petioles slender, nearly terete ½′—¾′ in length; stipules reniform, serrate, often ½′ broad on vigorous shoots, usually caducous. Flowers: aments on leafy branchlets, elongated, cylindric, slender, arcuate, stalked, pubescent or tomentose, 2′—3′ long; scales yellow, sparingly villose on the outer, densely villose on the inner face, the staminate broadly ovate, rounded at the apex, the pistillate oblong-obovate, narrower, caducous; stamens 5—9, with free filaments slightly hairy at the base; ovary oblong-conic, long-stalked, glabrous, with a short style and emarginate stigmas. Fruit globose-conic, light reddish yellow, about ¼′ in length.
A tree, sometimes 60°—70° high, with a single straight or slightly inclining trunk rarely more than 2° in diameter, straight ascending branches, and slender glabrous or rarely pilose (f. pilosiuscula Schn.) branchlets marked with scattered pale lenticels, dark orange color or red-brown and lustrous, becoming in their first winter light orange-brown. Winter-buds broadly ovoid, gibbous, dark chestnut-brown, very lustrous above the middle, light orange-brown below, ⅛′ long. Bark ½′—¾′ thick, brown somewhat tinged with red, and divided by irregular fissures into flat connected ridges separating on the surface into thick plate-like scales. Wood light, soft, close-grained, light brown, with thick nearly white sapwood.
Distribution. Banks of streams; Province of Quebec from the neighborhood of Montreal to Winnipeg, and along the fiftieth degree of north latitude to southeastern British Columbia, and to central New York, along the southern shores of Lake Erie, and through northern Ohio to northern Indiana, southwestern Illinois, northern and central Missouri, and to Kansas, northwestern Oklahoma and northwestern Texas; in Colorado, Utah and Nevada to central Oregon and southeastern Washington.
Salix amygdaloides var. Wrightii Schn.
Salix Wrightii Anders.
Leaves lanceolate, gradually acuminate and long-pointed at apex, cuneate at base, finely serrate, occasionally slightly falcate, glabrous, yellow-green on the upper surface, pale on the lower surface, 1½′—2′ long, ¼′—⅓′ wide, and on vigorous summer shoots sometimes 4′ or 5′ long and ½′ wide; petioles slender, glabrous, ¼′—⅓′ in length. Flowers and Fruit as in the species.
A small or large tree best distinguished from S. amygdaloides by the distinctly yellow or yellowish brown glabrous branchlets.
Distribution. Barstow, Ward County, common along the Rio Grande near El Paso and at Belon, El Paso County, and on Amarillo Creek, Potter County, western Texas; through southern New Mexico to the Sacramento Mountains, Otero County.
5. Salix Bonplandiana var. Toumeyi Schn.
Salix Toumeyi. Britt.
Leaves 4′—6′ long, ½′—¾′ wide, linear-lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, acuminate with a long slender point at apex, gradually narrowed and often unequal at the cuneate base, obscurely serrate with glandular teeth, or entire with revolute margins, thick and firm, reticulate-venulose, yellow-green and lustrous above, silvery white below, with a broad yellow midrib; falling irregularly during the winter; petioles stout, grooved, reddish; stipules ovate, rounded, slightly undulate, thin and scarious, ⅛′—¼′ broad, often persistent during the summer. Flowers: aments on leafy branchlets, cylindric, erect, slender, short-stalked, the staminate 1′—1½′ long and somewhat longer than the pistillate; scales broadly obovate, rounded at the apex, light yellow, villose on the outer surface and glabrous or slightly hairy above the middle on the inner surface; stamens usually 3, with free filaments slightly hairy at the base; ovary slender, oblong-conic, short-stalked, glabrous, with nearly sessile much-thickened club-shaped stigmas, sometimes nearly encircled below by the large broad ventral gland. Fruit ovoid-conic, rounded at base, light reddish yellow.
A tree, rarely more than 30° high, with a trunk 12′—15′ in diameter, slender erect and spreading branches often pendulous at the ends, forming a broad round-topped head, and slender glabrous branchlets marked with occasional pale lenticels, light yellow, becoming light or dark red-brown and lustrous, and paler orange-brown in their second year. Winter-buds narrowly ovoid, long-pointed, more or less falcate, bright red-brown, lustrous, ¼′ long. Bark ½′—¾′ thick, dark brown or nearly black, and deeply divided by narrow fissures into broad flat ridges separating on the surface into closely appressed scales.
Distribution. Banks of streams in the cañons of the mountains of central and southern Arizona (Sicamore Cañon near Flagstaff and Sabino Cañon, Santa Catalina Mountains); and southwestern New Mexico (cañon, Saint Louis Mountains, Grant County); in Chihuahua, Sonora and Lower California.
The typical S. Bonplandiana H. B. K. with broader and more coarsely serrate leaves, and flower-aments appearing from July to January from the axils of mature leaves is widely distributed in Mexico and ranges to Guatemala.