Most of the manuals are entirely silent regarding the vernation of the Willows. Sargent[2] describes their leaves as “variously folded in the bud” and under different species gives them as: involute, revolute, convolute, and even conduplicate in the bud. The fact that he gives two species, closely related and difficult to distinguish, at the time the buds open (Salix nigra and S. amygdaloides), as having involute and revolute vernations, led me to take up the matter to see if a key for their identification from bud characters, could be constructed. Not only did I find that they were not involute and revolute respectively; but that they were neither involute nor revolute, but both imbricate. On examining other species the same thing was found. The only exceptions to the true imbricate vernation found are represented in figures 3 and 4. The section Purpureae, on account of its tendency to have opposite rather than alternate leaves, often forms such decussate buds as are shown in figure 3. In Salix incana Schrenk, a species whose leaves at maturity have revolute margins, the leaves have a greater or less tendency to roll backwards in the bud. The most extreme case found is shown in figure 4. Others from the same twig could be shown where the leaves show only the slightest tendency to be revolute. If we may consider that this backward turning is merely a character of the mature leaf manifesting itself in the bud it is evident that there is here no revolute vernation but that it is really imbricate. [Illustration: Salix buds] The other buds examined vary from the form represented in figure 1 where the whole interior of the bud is taken up with the closely packed leaves, to that shown in figure 2 where there are a few leaves with a great deal of wool. Species like Salix fragilis L. whose leaves are glabrous when they unfold have buds like the former while species like Salix discolor Muhl., with leaves excessively wooly when they unfold, are like the latter. As there are all intergradations between these two kinds of leaves, there is naturally a series of buds between these two as extremes. While further investigation is necessary before we would be warranted in declaring that the vernation of the whole genus is imbricate; yet the fact that specimens of thirty-four species and varieties, taken from thirteen of the nineteen sections given by Andersson in DeCandolle’s prodromus, have their leaves imbricated in the buds would seem to establish a presumption in favor of such a view.