Salicaceae

Salicaceae [‚sal·ə′kās·ē‚ē]

(botany)

The single family of the order Salicales.

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Salicaceae 

a family of dicotyledonous plants, comprising three genera: Populus, Salix, and Chosenia. Salicaceae are dioecious trees or shrubs. The alternate leaves have stipules; in many varieties the leaves fall early. The flowers, gathered into a catkin, are small, unisexual, and lack a perianth. A small cupular formation on the base of the pistil or the stamens in Populus and one to two glands (nectaries) in Salix are considered to be the remainder of a reduced perianth.

The male flowers of most willows (Salix) have two to five stamens, and of Chosenia, five; the poplar and aspen male flowers have many. The female flowers have one pistil from two carpels. The fruit is a unilocular boll with numerous tufted seeds. Members of the Salicaceae family grow primarily in moderate regions in both hemispheres. Fossilized remnants of Salicaceae are found in deposits beginning with the Cretaceous period.

REFERENCES

Flora SSSR, vol. 5. Edited by V.L. Komarov. Moscow-Leningrad, 1936.
Hutchinson, J. The Genera of Flowering Plants, vol. 2. Oxford, 1967.