Family, Willow. Color, greenish, with a reddish tinge. Flowers, in catkins, appearing much earlier than the leaves. The pistillate, about 1 inch long, without perianth, but attended by 1 bract; staminate, consisting of 2 stamens with long filaments. Capsule, much longer than its pedicel. Leaves, long, lance - shape, acute at both ends, 2 to 4 inches long, the margins slightly rolled back, dark green and softly downy above, often grayish-woolly beneath. Petioles, short. Stipules, small, ovate or lance - shape. 2 to 8 feet high. Dry soil from North Carolina and Tennessee northward. April and May.

This species frequently bears leafy cones on the ends of its branches, produced, probably, by insects.