Salicaceae

The Salicaceae are the willow family of flowering plants. The traditional family (Salicaceae sensu stricto) includes the willows, poplars. Genetic studies summarized by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG) have greatly expanded the circumscription of the family to contain 56 genera and about 1220 species, including the tropical Scyphostegiaceae and many of the former Flacourtiaceae. In the Cronquist system, the Salicaceae were assigned to their own order, Salicales, and contained three genera, Salix, Populus, and Chosenia (now a synonym of Salix). Recognized to be closely related to the Violaceae and Passifloraceae, the family is placed by the APG in the order Malpighiales. Under the new circumscription, most members of the family are trees or shrubs that have simple leaves with alternate arrangement, and temperate members are usually deciduous. Most members have serrate or dentate leaf margins, and many of those that have such toothed margins exhibit salicoid teeth, a salicoid tooth b......read more on Wikipedia.