Salicineae
A natural order of trees or shrubs, chiefly inhabiting Northern temperate and frigid regions, a few being natives of South Africa and South America. Flowers dioecious, disposed in catkin-like spikes or rarely racemes, each furnished with a membranous, entire or lobed bract; perianth replaced by a glandular or urceolate disk; stamens of the male flowers two or numerous, inserted on the centre of the torus; ovary of the females sessile or shortly stipitate; style short or very short, two or four-fid. Capsule ovoid or oblong, usually acuminate, dehiscing in two to four valves at the base. Leaves alternate, entire, serrulated, toothed, or rarely lobed, penniveined or three-nerved, deciduous; stipules free, scaly and deciduous, or foliaceous and leafy. The only two genera--Populus and Salix--contribute some ornamental subjects to our gardens. Most of the species possess astringent and bitter principles. Poplar wood, although soft, is valued for its lightness; while that of several species of Salix, particularly the Osier (S. purpurea, S. viminalis, and S. vitellina), is in great demand by basket-manufacturers, coopers, and gardeners. The number of species comprised in Salicineae is estimated, by various authors, at between 150 and 300.