this tree; but Sir J. E. Smith (in his Eng. Fl., vol. iv. p. 186.) says that they belong, probably, to S. Russelliana. The roots, however, of 5. frágilis are used, in Sweden, to boil with eggs, to make them of a purple colour, at Easter; it being the custom there, as in many other countries, to make presents of coloured eggs at that festival. A similar custom is said to have prevailed anciently in Scotland. "The withy, or Salix frágilis," says Gilpin, "is of little value in landscape; and yet there is something beautiful in its silver-coated catkins, which open, as the year advances, into elegant hanging tufts, and, when the tree is large and in full bloom, make a beautiful variety among the early productions of the spring." (Gilp. For. Scen.) For the properties and uses of this species as a timber tree, see p. 1460. Statistics. In the environs of London, on the banks of the Thames, near Brentford, 50 ft. high. In Suffolk, at the bottom of the old Bury Botanic Garden, on the authority of Mr. Turner, the curator of the new Botanic Garden at Bury, there was "a noble tree, 90 ft. high; the diameter of the trunk 7ft., and of the head 54 ft. A portrait of this tree was lithographed by Mr. Strutt." This tree, which grew on the banks of the Lark, was blown down during the hurricane of November 29th, 1836. In Ireland, in the county Down, at Mount Stewart, 50 years planted, it is 57 ft. high; the diameter of the trunk 3 ft., and of the head 27 ft. In Russia, at Petersburg, in the garden of the Taurida Palace, 49 ft. high; the circumference of the trunk 104 ft., and of the head 49 ft. There are plants in the Hackney arboretum, and at Woburn Abbey, Flitwick House, Henfield, the Botanic Garden at Twickenham, and various other places.

23. S. MONSPELIENSIS Forbes. The Montpelier Willow.
Identification. Forbes in Sal. Wob., No. 30.
Synonyme. ?S. fragilis var. (Borrer in a letter.)
The Sexes. The male is figured in Sal. Wob.

Engravings. Sal. Wob., No. 30.; and fig. 30. in p. 1609.

Spec. Char., &c. Leaves elliptic-lanceolate, pointed, glabrous; green, shining above; pale, and somewhat glaucous beneath; margins strongly serrated, glandular. Stipules ovate-lanceolate, deeply serrated. Catkins about 2 in. long. Stamens 2. Bractea oblong, fringed. (Sal. Wob., p.59.) A native of Montpelier, in France. Introduced into England about 1825, or before, and flowering in the salictum at Woburn Abbey in April and May. It forms a small tree, 10 ft. or 12 ft. high, with round, smooth, tough branches, forming a bushy head; the young twigs pale yellow, but becoming of a browrish-green colour at the base, like the preceding year's shoots. The leaves are from 4 in. to 6 in. long. There are plants in the Hackney arboretum, and at Woburn Abbey, Henfield, and Flitwick House.

* 24. S. RUSSELLIANA Smith. The Russell, or Duke of Bedford's, Willow. Identification. Smith Fl. Br., p. 1045.; Willd. Sp. Pl., 4. p. 656.; Koch Comm., p. 15., at least in part; Smith Eng. Bot., t. 1801.; Eng. Fl., 4. p. 186.; Forbes in Sal. Wob., No. 28.; Hook. Br. FL., ed. 3., p. 422; Mackay Fl. Hibern., pt. 1. p. 246.

Synonymes. ?S. frágilis Woodv., and other medical writers; the Dishley, or Leicestershire, Willow: in some counties, the Huntingdon Willow. Koch has deemed identical with this the following:S. pendula Ser. Sal. Helv., p. 79., from specimens from Seringe; S. viridis Fries Nov., p. 120.; S. rubens Schrank Baier. Fl., Ï. 226.

The Sexes. The female is figured in Eng. Bot. and Sal. Wob. Smith, in the Eng. Fl., states that he had not seen the flowers of the male. Dr. Johnston, in his Flora of Berwick upon Tweed, states, that a male tree, which he has deemed of this species, is in "New-water-haugh Plantation." Engravings. Eng. Bot., t. 1808.; Sal. Wob., No. 28., and the frontispiece; our fig. 1311.; and fig. 28. in p. 1608.

Spec. Char., &c. Leaves lanceolate, tapering at each end, serrated throughout, very glabrous. Footstalks glandular or leafy. Ovary tapering, stalked, longer than the bracteas. Style as long as the stigmas. (Smith E. F.) Smith states that he had not seen the flowers of the male of this kind; and this sex is not farther noticed in Sal. Wob. Dr. Johnston, in his Flora of Berwick upon Tweed, has noticed the existence of a male tree of what he deems this species within the province of his Flora; and has given the following botanical description of it :-"The male tree is very rare; and, if we are correct in our determination of it, the figure in Withering is not good. Its catkins are 2 in. long, cylindrical, and yellow. Stamens 2. Filaments not much longer than the pointed, more or less villous, bracteas. The catkins stand on short leafy branchlets; and the young leaves are entire, lin. to 2 in. long, but not otherwise different from the adult ones. Catkins

of the female rather longer, lax, with smooth lanceolate ovaries." The following matter may be understood to relate chiefly, or wholly, to the female. A native of Britain, in marshy woods or osier grounds, and, in many places, flowering in April and May. This tree, like S. frágilis, is frequently found from 80 ft. to 90 ft. high. According to Mr. Forbes, it is more handsome than S. frágilis in its mode of growth, as well as altogether of a lighter or brighter hue. The branches are long, straight, and slender, not angular in their insertion, like those of S. frágilis; and the trees of both species, when stripped of their leaves, may be distinguished respectively by these marks. The leaves, Sir W. J. Hooker observes, are of a peculiarly handsome shape when in perfection; deeply sinuated, and much attenuated. This extremely valuable tree, the same high authority observes, was first brought into notice by His Grace Francis Duke of Bedford, about the beginning of the present century, and thence most appropriately honoured by bearing the family name. Of the size to which it reaches, some interesting details are given in the present Duke of Bedford's introduction to the Salictum Woburnense. The favourite tree of Dr. Johnson, at Lichfield, was of this species. It is commonly said that this tree was planted by Dr. Johnson; but, "in the Gentleman's Magazine for July, 1785 (seven months after Dr. Johnson's death), there is a particular account of this tree, wherein it is stated that it had been generally supposed to have been planted by Dr. Johnson's father, but that the doctor never would admit the fact. It appears, however, to have been

a favourite tree of the doctor's, and to have attracted his attention for many years: indeed, to use his own expression, it was the delight of his early and waning life; and it is said that he never failed to visit it whenever he went to Lichfield; and, during his visit to that city in the year 1781, he desired Dr. Trevor Jones, a physician of that place, to give him a description of it, saying it was by much the largest tree of the kind he had ever seen or heard of, and therefore wished to give an account of it in the Philosophical Transactions, that its size might be recorded. Dr. Jones, in compliance with his request, furnished him with the particular dimensions of the tree, which were as follows:- The trunk rose to the height of 12 ft. 8 in., and then divided into 15 large ascending branches, which, in very numerous and crowded subdivisions, spread at the top in a circular form, not unlike the appearance of a shady oak, inclining a little towards the east. The circumference of the trunk at the bottom was 15 ft. 9 in.; in the middle, 11 ft. 10 in.; and at the top, immediately below the branches, 13 ft. The entire height of the tree was 49 ft.; and the circumference of the branches, at their extremities, upwards of 200 ft., overshadowing a plane not far short of 4000 ft. The surface of the trunk was very uneven, and the bark much furrowed. The tree had then (Nov. 29. 1781) a vigorous and thriving appearance. The most moderate computation of its age was, at that time, near fourscore years; and some respectable authorities were strongly inclined to think that a century had passed over its head." The tree stood near the public footpath in the fields between the city of Lichfield and Stow Hill, the residence of the celebrated "Molly Ashton;" and it is said that Dr. Johnson frequently rested under its shade when on his way to the house of that lady, whom he never failed to visit periodically, till a short period before his death. (See Croker's edition of Boswell's Johnson.) There is a portrait of Johnson's Willow given as a frontispiece to the Salictum Woburnense; but, as that figure has much more the appearance of a spreading beech than of a willow of any kind, we were induced to doubt its fidelity. We accordingly made enquiries, through a friend at Lichfield, respecting the original tree; and we have satisfied ourselves that the portrait alluded to bears very little resemblance to what Johnson's Willow was at any stage of its growth; or, at least, at any time since the year 1810. (See Gard. Mag., vol. xii. p. 716; and vol. xiii. p. 94.) There are two engravings of Johnson's Willow in the Gentleman's Magazine for 1785; one of these, a south-west view of the tree, taken in July, 1785, by Mr. Stringer, and which may be considered as representing the appearance of the tree at Dr. Johnson's death, is copied to the reduced scale of 1 in. to 12 ft. in fig. 1312. From this period, the tree appears to have gradually increased in size till April, 1810, when Dr. Withering found the trunk to girt 21 ft. at 6 ft. from the ground, and to extend 20 ft. in height, before dividing into enormous ramifications: the trunk and branches were then perfectly sound, and the very extensive head showed unimpaired vigour. In November of the same year, however, many of the branches were swept away in a violent storm; and nearly half of what remained of the tree fell to the ground in August, 1815, leaving little more than its stupendous trunk, and a few side boughs. We have seen a portrait of the tree by Mr. Stringer, made in 1816, which was kindly lent to us by that gentleman, by which it appears to have been then considerably mutilated, and in a state of decay. This decay was accelerated by a fire made in the hollow of the trunk by some boys, in 1825, and which would probably have consumed the tree, had not Mr. Stringer, whose garden nearly adjoins it, seen flames proceeding from the trunk, and sent some of his men for the town engine to extinguish the fire. In April, 1829, the tree was blown down in a violent storm, which took place on the 29th of that month, about 3 o'clock in the afternoon. A drawing was taken of the tree as it lay on the ground, from which a lithograph was published, representing its appearance before its fall; and from this lithograph fig. 1313. is reduced to the scale of 1 in. to 12ft.

After the tree was blown down, Mr. Holmes, a coachmaker residing in Lichfield, and the proprietor of the ground on which Johnson's Willow stood, regretting that there was no young tree to plant in its stead, recollected that, the year before, a large branch had been blown down, part of which had been used as pea-sticks in his garden; and examined these, to see if any of them had taken root. Finding that one had, he had it removed to the site of the old tree, and planted there in fresh soil; a band of music and a number of persons attending its removal, and a dinner being given afterwards by Mr. Holmes to his friends, and the admirers of Johnson. The young tree is, at present, in a flourishing state, and 20 ft. high. Johnson's Willow, at the time of its fall, was estimated to be of the age of 130 years, and its greatest height appears to have been about 60 ft. After it was blown down, some of Johnson's admirers, at Lichfield, had its remains converted into snuff-boxes and similar articles.

Great as is the affinity, botanically speaking, between S. Russelliana and the preceding species, S. frágilis, its economical properties are wholly different. The timber of S. Russelliana is considered as the most valuable of any of the willow tribe. So important is it as a plantation tree, that Mr. Lowe, in his Survey of the County of Nottingham, states that, at eight years' growth, the poles yielded a net profit of 2147. per acre; and, in two years more, they would probably have produced 300l. per acre. The late George Biggin, Esq., of Crossgrove Priory, an able chemist, ascertained that the

1312

bark of this tree contains the tanning principle in a superior degree to that of the oak; and it is supposed that the medical properties stated to belong to S. frágilis are attributed to it by mistake, and should be referred to S. Russelliana. (Hook. Brit. Flor., p.415., with additions.) The bark, according to Sir J. E. Smith, has been found useful as a substitute for cinchona in agues. (Eng. Fl., vol. iv. p. 187.) This species is as readily propagated by cuttings or truncheons as any other; and, though it thrives best in good soil near water, it attains a considerable size in uplands. Varieties. Many forms intermediate between S. frágilis and S. Russelliana are extant, which seem to me to be hybrids. (Koch.) It should be remembered that Koch has included in his idea of S. frágilis the S. decípiens of the English botanists, and, perhaps, other exotic forms as dissimilar as this is.

Statistics, In the environs of London, at Syon, there is a tree of S. Russelliana 89 ft. high; the diameter of the trunk 4 ft. 4 in., and of the head 65 ft. at Ham House, there is a tree 63 ft. high; the diameter of the trunk 32 ft., and of the head 59 ft. In Staffordshire, by the side of the road leading from Lichfield to Stow, on the spot on which Johnson's Willow stood, a cutting of the old tree was planted in 1830, which, in May, 1836, was 20 ft. high, and in a most vigorous state of growth. In Scotland, in Stirlingshire, at Callender Park, 60 ft. high; the diameter of the trunk 3 ft.8 in., and that of the head 70 ft.: a tree, at Gordon Castle, at the age of 61 years, was 57 ft. high, and above 11 ft. in its greatest circumference. This tree, it is stated in the Salictum Woburnense, was blown down in a storm, on the 24th of November, 1826. In Ireland, at Terenure, near Dublin, 15 years planted, it is 25 ft high; in the Cullenswood Nursery, there is a tree, which is said to be this species, 90 ft. high, which, according to the Return Paper sent us, has not yet been 30 years planted.