SEED-BEARING PLANTS 



ARCHICHLAMYDEJE 



Apetal^ 



457 



406. Willow Family (Salicaceae). — This family com- 

 prises both the willows (Salix) and the poplars {Populus). 

 There are about 20 species of poplar in North America. 

 The willows, in North America, comprise over 30 species, 



Fig. 340. — Inflorescence of a willow (Salix discolor). At the left pistillate, 

 at the right staminate catkins. (Photo by Elsie M. Kittredge.) 



trees and shrubs, and are specially common in moist 

 situations. Several species are cultivated to furnish 

 twigs for basket-making. The weeping willow {Salix 

 bahylonica), an object of peculiar beauty along streams 

 and lakeshores, owes its pendulous or "weeping" character 



