Salicaceae

Taxonomy

Family name: Salicaceae Mirabel

Synonym(s): Bembiciaceae R. C. Keating & Takht.; Caseariaceae Baum.-Bod., nom. nud.; Flacourtiaceae Rich. ex DC., nom. cons.; Homaliaceae R. Br.; Patrisaceae Mart., nom. nud.; Prockiaceae Bertuch; Samydaceae Vent., nom. cons.; Scyphostegiaceae Hutch., nom. cons.

Common name(s): willow family

*Number of genera/species: 53/1,220

List of genera records in GRIN-Global

Disseminule

fruit or seed

Description

Fruit dehiscent, loculicidal or septicial capsule (2–6 valved) or indehiscent berry, sometimes drupe (Flacourtia) or samara (Neopringlea), 0.8–100 mm long, globose to angular, terete in transection, style or style remnants often persistent, sometimes beaked, 1- to many-seeded, often subtended or enclosed by persistent perianth. Pericarp brown, black, purple, gray, red, orange, yellow or green, dully or shiny, thin or thick, leathery, bony, woody, sometimes fleshy or succulent (berries), glabrous or pubescent (cottony or silky hairs, to 5 mm long), smooth or grooved (when dry), striate, ridged, ribbed, wrinkled, veined, spiny, bristly, or with resinous dots or spongy emergences.

Seed usually ovoid or angular, terete or compressed in transection, 0.3–6 mm (in winged seeds, to 40 mm including wing). Wingless or if winged, dorsally winged or keeled (Abatia), wing thin, papery or membranous, squarish or rectangular and surrounding seed (Itoa, Poliothyrsis) or extending from one end only (Carrierea). Often arillate, aril white or red, fleshy, lobed, attached to hilum. Seed coat black, brown, reddish or purplish brown, gray, green, yellow, or white, rarely mottled, dull, rarely shiny, glabrous or pubescent, sometimes densely so, smooth or warty, pitted, wrinkled, striate, punctate, reticulate, or resinous glands. In Salix and Populus, seeds with tuft of long hairs at one end or coma, sometimes interpreted as arillate.

Embryo well developed, partially to completely filling seed coat, axile and centric, linear or foliate, straight or C-shaped. Endosperm or perisperm scant.

Identification features

Fruit
Type	capsule or berry, sometimes drupe or samara
Size range	0.8–100 mm long
Shape(s)	globose, ellipsoid, oblong, fusiform, ovoid, conical, pyriform, trigonous, angular
Texture	thin or thick, coriaceous, bony, woody, sometimes fleshy or succulent (berries)
Surface relief	smooth, grooved (when dry), striate, ridged, ribbed, wrinkled, veined, spiny, bristly, with resinous dots or spongy emergences
Color(s)	brown, black, purple, gray, red, orange, yellow, green
Unique features	Usually capsules or berries, with numerous often winged and/or pubescent seeds or seeds with white or red fleshy arils.
Seed
Size range	0.3–6 mm long, or if winged up to 40 mm including wing
Shape(s)	usually ovoid or angular, sometimes globose, ellipsoid, oblong, biconical, reniform, cylindrical, or lens-shaped
Surface relief	smooth, warty, pitted, wrinkled, striate, punctate, reticulate, with resinous glands
Color(s)	black, brown, reddish or purplish brown, gray, green, yellow, or white, rarely mottled
Unique features	Small, often winged or pubescent, ovoid or angular seeds.
Other
Embryo	well developed, partially to completely filling seed coat, axile and centric, linear or foliate, straight or C-shaped
Nutritive tissue	endosperm or perisperm scanty

Distribution

Nearly worldwide.

Distribution map courtesy of Angiosperm Phylogeny Website.

References

Bingham et al. 2021+; Chase et al. 2002; Goldberg 1986; Flora of North America Editorial Committee 1993+; Hyde et al. 2021b+; Kirkbride et al. 2006; Masters 1871; Sleumer 1954; Sleumer 1975; Sleumer 1980; Takhtajan 2009; van Heel 1967; Zhengyi et al. 2004+

*The number of genera and species is based on Christenhusz and Byng 2016, which may differ from the number of genera in GRIN-Global.