What is Willow?
{{Taxobox | name = Willows | image = Willow.jpg | image_width = 270px | image_caption = Weeping Willow | regnum = [[Plant]]ae | divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]] | classis = [[Magnoliopsida]] | ordo = [[Malpighiales]] | familia = [[Salicaceae]] | genus = '''''Salix''''' [[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]] | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = About 350. }} '''Willows''' are a group of [[trees]] and [[shrub]]s which may be called sallows or osiers. Their [[Latin language|Latin]] name is ''Salix''. Willows have many differences in [[size]] and type of growth, but are very much alike in other respects. There are about 350 [[species]] of this plant, usually found on moist [[soil]]s in cooler zones in the [[Northern Hemisphere]]. Many [[hybrid]]s are known, both naturally occurring and in cultivation, because willows are very fertile. Willows have watery bark sap, charged with [[salicylic acid]] ([[defence against herbivory]]). They have soft, usually pliant (bendy), tough wood, slender branches, and large, fibrous, often [[stolon]]iferous [[roots]]. The roots are remarkable for their toughness, size, and are hard to kill. Roots readily sprout from aerial parts of the plant. Willows are [[dioecious]], with male and female flowers appearing as catkins on separate plants. The catkins are produced early in the spring, often before the leaves. ==Pictures== <gallery> Image:Weeping Willow.jpg|Weeping Willow in [[Auckland]], [[New Zealand]] Image:Salix herbacea.jpg|Salix herbacea, Dwarf Willow, [[Sweden]] Image:Willow catkin 1 aka.jpg|Willow catkin<br />(Salix discolor) Image:Young-catkin.jpg|Young male catkin </gallery> == Other websites== * [http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Salix+alba Salix alba at plants for a future] * [http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Salix+purpurea ''Salix purpurea'' at plants for a future] * [http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Willow 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica] * [http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/species/frame/saca5.htm ''Salix caroliniana'' images at bioimages.vanderbi