Tree families (willow, birch, maple, linden, beech). Practical significance of the willow family Woody belongs to the willow family

26.10.202327.05.2017

Asia is richest in species of willows and poplars, followed by North America; in Europe there are fewer species, and in Africa very few. All willows are photophilous and moisture-loving, although to varying degrees. Poplars are always trees. Among the willows there are both tall trees, shrubs and small shrubs. However, even the most dwarf arctic and alpine species still did not become grasses. Willows are characterized by whole leaves, usually with stipules, arranged alternately (some willows have leaves close together in pairs). All willows are dioecious and have unisexual flowers; bisexual specimens occur only as an anomaly. Inflorescences, usually called catkins, are a spike or raceme with very shortened pedicels and a soft, often drooping axis; in male specimens after flowering, and in female specimens after ripening and dispersal of seeds, the catkins fall off completely. The flowers are borne in the axils of bracts (bracts), whole in willows and choicenia and usually fringedly incised in poplars. Willows and choicenia have sessile flowers, while poplars have flowers on pedicels, to which the base of the bracts grows. Willow flowers are devoid of perianth; instead there are 1-3 small honey glands (nectaries). Poplars do not have nectaries, but they do have a goblet-shaped perianth. Chosenia has neither nectaries nor perianth. There are 1-12 stamens in a flower in willows (in most species - 2), in Chosenia - 3-6, in poplars - from 6 to 40. In poplars and Chosenia, the pollen is dry and carried by the wind; Willows have sticky pollen and pollination is carried out by insects.

The gynoecium in willows and chozenia has 2, in poplars it has 2-4 carpels; when ripe, it becomes a dry capsule, cracking along the midline of the carpels. The seeds are small (1-2 mm long), have a very thin translucent shell and contain a straight embryo of two cotyledons flatly adjacent to each other, a tiny bud between them and a subcotyledon (hypocotyl). All parts of the embryo contain chloroplasts, but there are almost no reserves of nutrients. The seeds are equipped with a tuft of fine hairs and are easily carried by the wind over considerable distances. When placed on moist soil, the seeds germinate very quickly - usually within the first 24 hours, and in warm weather sometimes within a few hours (germination may be delayed in the cold). The embryo quickly swells and emerges from the seed shell. At the tip of the hypocotyl, a corolla of thin hairs is formed, which attracts the tip of the hypocotyl to the ground and places the embryo vertically; after this, the root begins to grow quickly, and the cotyledons diverge, opening the bud. The development of the seedling usually also proceeds quickly, and in the first year of life, seedlings of many willows and poplars can reach a height of 30-60 cm and even 1 m. In Arctic willows, growth is sharply slowed down and one-year-old seedlings can be several millimeters high. Having the advantage of rapid germination, the seeds of willows, poplars and choicenia also have a significant drawback: they, as a rule, remain viable for no longer than 3-4 weeks; Only in the cold can germination last longer. The relatively most primitive genus of willow is considered to be the poplar. Among poplars, 7 very natural groups are easily distinguished, which are given different systematic ranks of subgenera or sections by different authors. We will consider these groups separately.

Aspens are the most widespread group, consisting of 5 species: three in Eurasia and two in North America. Aspens are distinguished by the fact that their buds and leaves do not secrete resin, the leaf blades are wide and usually wavy-toothed at the edges, and the petioles are long, which is why the aspen leaves tremble even with a light blow of wind (hence the Latin name Tremula - trembling). The bracts of aspens are usually black, fringedly dissected and densely pubescent with long hairs. The gynoecium consists of 2 carpels, the capsule is small, narrow and smooth. All aspens are forest trees, forming a stand of pure trees or mixed with other species. Aspens quickly populate areas deforested as a result of logging or other reasons, but they are relatively short-lived (very rarely reaching a century of age) and are gradually replaced by shade-tolerant and more durable species. Unlike most other poplars, aspens usually do not colonize fresh river sediments and therefore are distributed primarily in non-floodplain conditions. Aspens produce abundant growth from roots that are usually located shallow. If you cut down an old aspen tree, the growth of growth around its stump will be especially intensive. Because of this, often entire groups or groves of aspen trees are one clone, which is usually easy to notice, especially in the spring. Aspens are very diverse in the color of the trunk bark, the nature of branching, the pubescence and color of young leaves, the size and serration of mature leaves, and the timing of spring bud opening. All trees belonging to one clone are similar to each other, but noticeably different from trees of another clone. The two North American aspens have fairly wide ranges. On the contrary, two very similar species of purely Asian aspens have very limited distribution areas. One is in the mountains of central China, and the other is in the Eastern Himalayas.

White poplars are closely related to aspens. Like aspens, they are devoid of resin and have a small, narrow, bivalve capsule; like aspens, their catkins are densely pubescent. The most characteristic features of white poplars, which have no analogues in other groups, are the palmate-lobed shape of the leaves of the shoots and the dense snow-white pubescence of the underside of these leaves. In their natural state, white poplars are always confined to river floodplains. There are only two types of white poplars. In nature and in culture, hybrids of white poplar and aspen are often found.

Turangi are a group that has adapted to living in a hot and dry climate. Three species: poplar (P. pruinosa) - in Central Asia and Western China; Euphrates poplar (P. euphratica) with a wide range stretching from Mongolia and Western China through Central Asia and the Middle East to Morocco, with isolated habitats in the Southern Transcaucasus and Southern Spain; Holly poplar (P. ilicitolia) - in East tropical Africa. Turang poplars are small trees that from a distance resemble aspen, but with an even looser crown, forming light sparse groves along rivers or in lowlands with shallow groundwater levels, slightly saline. Unlike all other poplars, their trunk does not grow monopodially, but sympodially, like willows. The leaves are dense, glaucous, with an isolateral anatomical structure (i.e., with palisade parenchyma not only on the upper, but also on the lower side). In Euphrates poplar, the leaves of the shoots differ sharply in shape from the leaves of the shoots in the old part of the crown (the former are narrow and long, the latter are round and coarsely toothed); sometimes there is a significant difference even between the leaves of the same shoot. Unlike other poplars, the perianth of turangas falls off when the capsules ripen.

Black, or deltoid, poplars have characteristic delta-shaped leaves on long petioles that sway in the wind, like aspens. Young leaves secrete a fragrant resin. Confined to riverine and floodplain habitats. Euro-Siberian black poplar, or sedge (P. nigra), is distributed in the middle and southern zone of all of Europe (going everywhere somewhat north of the white poplar), in the Caucasus and Asia Minor, in Northern Kazakhstan and the southern strip of Siberia to the Yenisei. Central Asian black poplar, or Afghan poplar (R. afghanica), is common along the rivers of the lower mountain belt of Central Asia and Afghanistan. Both species have forms with a narrow columnar (pyramidal) crown, which are widely bred in the southern regions of our country and abroad. Two or three species of black poplar exist in North America; Of these, one, which has the widest range and extends further to the north, the deltoid poplar (P. deltoides), is very widely grown in Western Europe and in the middle and especially in the southern regions of the former USSR. In East Asia, black poplars are not found in their natural state.

Balsam poplars are so named because their leaves and buds are especially rich in fragrant resin, which was previously used for medicinal purposes. They differ from other poplars by the presence of true shortened shoots (brachyblasts), on which only 2-5 leaves develop per year and leaf scars are located close to one another, as well as by a leaf petiole that is round in cross section (in other poplars the petiole is laterally flattened). The bolls are usually 3-4-leafed, unevenly tuberous on the outside. Balsam poplars are common in the eastern half of Asia and North America and are absent in Europe, Africa and Western Asia. There are five species in the CIS countries: Talas poplar (P. talassica) - in the mountainous regions of Central Asia (except Turkmenistan); laurel poplar (P. laurifolia) - in Altai and Sayan Mountains; fragrant poplar (P. suaveolens) - in Eastern Siberia from the Baikal region to the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug and Kamchatka; Korean poplar (P. koreana), which is very close to fragrant poplar - in the Amur region and Primorye; Maksimovich's poplar (P. maximowiczii) - on Sakhalin and partly in Primorye. Sweet poplar and, somewhat less frequently, laurel-leaved poplar are also grown in the European part of Russia. There are two or three species of balsam poplars in China; One of them - Simon's poplar (P. simonii) - is quite widely bred in the USSR. Of the two North American species, one - balsam poplar (P. balsamifera) - has long been introduced into Europe, and is occasionally found here. Mexican poplars are the least known group. Confined to the northern highlands of Mexico and adjacent areas of the United States. According to morphological characteristics, they are something like a cross between aspens and black poplars, but they differ in the small size of all organs. One or two types. Leucoid poplars are apparently the most archaic, relict group, with a broken range of two relatively small fragments: in the southeastern Atlantic region of the United States (varifolia poplar - P. heterophylla) and in Southern China and the Himalayas (3 species). This group occupies a middle position between such extreme branches of the genus as aspens and balsam poplars. All its species are characterized by especially thick shoots and large sizes of leaves, buds and earrings. However, the trees are usually small (except for the Himalayan ciliated poplar - P. ciliata). Due to their rapid growth and unpretentiousness, the main groups of poplars are of great importance to humans, primarily as a source of cheap wood, and then as decorative and reclamation species. Poplars are one of the main and most rewarding objects of modern tree species selection, aimed mainly at accelerating wood growth. In recent decades, various varieties (clones) of deltoid poplar, as well as various hybrids between black and balsam poplars, have become especially widespread. The latter, in particular, have spread in protective and decorative plantings almost throughout Siberia. Successful work is also underway to obtain highly productive forms of aspen by crossing European aspens with American ones.

The second genus of willows is Chosenia. It is monotypic, consisting of one species - Chosenia arbutolifolia.

The third and largest genus of willows is Willow (Salix). Willows are found in all geographical zones - from tundra to desert. In the tundra and forest-tundra, in the subalpine and alpine belts of mountains, willows play a significant (and in some places dominant) role in the formation of stable (indigenous) plant communities. In the forest zone, willows are mostly temporary species, quickly populating fresh river sediments, places of deforestation or fires in forests, neglected cultivated lands, as well as all kinds of potholes, ditches, quarries, and so on, but in the natural course of events they are soon replaced by more durable and tall ones breeds of indigenous communities. In the steppe zone, willows are confined only to lowlands, river floodplains and sandy massifs, and in the desert zone - only to floodplains. Willow is usually divided into three subgenera: willow (Salix), vetrix (Vetrix) and chamaetia (Chamaetia). Most representatives of the willow subgenus are trees. The leaves are always uniformly serrated, sharp, flat, with unpressed veins and unturned edges, the bract scales of the catkins are uncolored, there are often more than 2 stamens, their threads are pubescent. The subgenus embraces about 30 species, which are distributed in approximately 7 sections. Brittle willow (S. fragilis) is native to Asia Minor, but has spread widely throughout almost all of Europe due to the extreme ease of rooting of fragments of branches. Three-stamen willow (S. triandra) is a large shrub along rivers and in damp places, common throughout Europe and southern Siberia. Djungarian willow (S. songarica) is a tall bush or wide-crowned tree, common along the flat rivers of Central Asia. Babylonian willow (S. babylonica) is native to Northern China; in the Caucasus, Crimea, and Ukraine, its weeping forms are widely cultivated (the name “Babylonian” is explained by the fact that it came to Europe through the Middle East). Five-stamen willow (S. pentandra) is common in damp and swampy forests of the forest zone. This is a small tree with very elegant glossy foliage, blooms later than all willows, and the seeds ripen at the end of summer, and dry catkins hang on the tree all winter.

All other willows (more than 300 species) are distributed between the subgenera Vetrix and Chametia. The Vetrix subgenus includes taller species - shrubs or trees of the temperate forest zone, humid habitats of arid zones and partly subalps and forest-tundra. In addition to being taller, the species of this group are characterized by a noticeable difference between the buds containing the rudiments of vegetative or generative shoots; also usually early flowering and the structure of the generative shoot correlated with early flowering: the absence or weak development of leaves on it and the dark color of the bracts. Goat willow (S. caprea) is a forest tree common in Europe and large parts of Siberia. Ash willow (P. cinerea) is a large shrub in Europe, Western Siberia and Kazakhstan, typical for damp places with low-flow, significantly mineralized groundwater. Red willow, or shelyuga (S. acutifolia), is a tall shrub of the sandy massifs of the European part of Russia and Western Kazakhstan; divorces very often. The subgenus Hametia embraces mainly alpine and tundra species - low-growing and creeping shrubs. In them, the catkin usually ends an elongated and leafy shoot; therefore, flowering occurs relatively late, and the seeds have time to ripen only towards the end of the growing season. Obviously, representatives of this subgenus descended from the Vetrix subgenus due to a simplification of the vegetative sphere. Gray-blue willow (S. glauca) is the most widespread and widespread species of forest-tundra and southern (shrub) tundra. Reticulated willow (S. reticulata) is a circumpolar arctic-alpine species with very characteristic oval leaves, white below and with a sharply depressed network of veins above. Herbaceous willow (S. herbacea) and polar willow (S. polaris) are sharply reduced shrubs with stems hidden in the soil or moss and only leaves and catkins exposed. An interesting barberry willow (S. berberifolia) with comb-toothed small leaves is found on the Siberian loaches. The meaning and use of willows is very diverse. Willows are used in reclamation work to strengthen the banks of reservoirs and consolidate sand. Willow shoots are good food for cows, goats, elk and deer. Willows are important early honey plants. The bark of many species is used to make high-quality tanning agents; A number of other chemicals are also obtained from the bark and leaves, including salicin, the very name of which comes from the word Salix. Wicker furniture is made from willow twigs. In many southern treeless areas, willows are an important source of cheap local timber. Finally, a number of species and forms are bred for decorative purposes.

A species of willow, tree or shrub of the willow family

Alternative descriptions

Willow with fluffy buds

Tree or shrub of the willow genus

Story by A. Chekhov

. "Sunday" sister willow

. "Resurrection" tree (Christ.)

Sunday tree

Sunday tree (religious)

Willow tree

A tree or shrub of the willow family with fluffy buds, usually growing along river banks

Tree for spring Sunday

Tree with fluffy buds

G. generic name of trees, many species, Salix; willow, willow, vine, bredina, broom, milkweed, novg. Verbina. astrakh. they say willow, willow, instead of a tree in general, in St. Petersburg there is a birch and a fir tree, and in other places there is an oak tree. acuminata (phlomoides), verbolosis; acutifolia, shelyuga, shelyuzhina, krasnotal (tal, willow in general, small willow, brushwood); alba, willow, willow, willow, vine; amygdalina, belotal, krasnotal, talnik, lomashnik; sarrea, willow, willow, tal (not tala), bredina, verboz; cinerea, vine, black grass, blackvine, willow, willow, gray willow; divaricata, slate; fragilis, broom, willow, willow, willow; Gmellini, whitebush; herbacea, tall dwarf?, tall dwarf birch; incubacea, small talus; myrtilloides, tall birch; nigricans, delusional (delusional?); pentandra, chernotal, recruiter, sinetal, breaker; purpurea, yellowberry; repens, nicelosis (composed by scientists), broom; rosmarinfolia, gray willow grass, netala?, sand vine; viminalis, talashchanik, willow, belotal, basket weed, kuzovnitsa, vyazinnik, verboloz. Jerusalem willow, Salix babylonica or Elaeagnus, agnus branches, oleaster, lokhovina, oil willow; Caucasian Armenian dates. Willow grass, Lythrum Salicaria, weeping grass, wild cornflowers, oakberry, coaster, bloodwort. It’s not the willow that beats, it’s an old sin. He says pear on the willow tree, he lies. You will get apples like from a willow tree. Where there is water, there is a willow, and where there is a willow, there is water. Whoever plants a willow and prepares a spade for himself will die when a shovel can be hewn out of the willow. The German is like a willow: wherever you point, here he begins! Verbeshka sowing pussy willow and other similar catkins, color and seed. Willow willow will be collected. willow, willow, willow, broom, willow grove. Willow, willow, willow, willow, willow; made from willow, belonging to willow, related to it. Verbnitsa arch. bonfire Palm week, Vai week; sixth of Lent; Palm Sunday, which precedes Easter Sunday. On the eve of Palm Sunday, Saint Lazarus climbed behind a willow tree. Lazarus, Lazarus, come eat our jelly, they say on Lazarus Sunday. The willow whips, hit me until I cry, I don’t hit, the willow hits; or: The red willow beats in vain; the white willow beats for the cause, and so on they sentence, whipping the sleepy willow with the willow. Cattle are driven into the field for the first time (on Yurya) with willow on Palm Sunday. If Palm Week is windy, with matinees, then the spring will be good, yarosl. In the palm frost, spring bread will be good, Novg. The roach rubs for the first time on the palm tree, the second time when the birch tree blooms, and finally on Ascension, in the south. Willow porridge, willow color, catkins, which are boiled in porridge and eaten on this day. Willows, willows, all kinds of branches, decorated with made flowers and distributed on this day, in memory of the event. Loosestrife m. zavalny herb, Lysimachia plant. Verbishnik m. plant. Verbascum Thapsus, royal candle, scepter, mullein, cloth, sukontse, archer, cowshed, bear's ear. Recruiter m. weeping plant, Lythrum. Lie down camels (distorted upper bellies?) adv. symb. about children, lying down, stretched out straight on their back, as for example. they say to stand on end, stretch to lie, etc. Verbok, recruiter, verbich m. south. a bream that rubs or spawns during the willow flower season, when the willow is in fluffy catkins

willow tree

willow plant

In Latin - “twigs of greenery”, in Latvian - “stick”, in Lithuanian - “branch”, but in Russian

Pre-Easter tree

Willow species

The plant is a symbol of a religious holiday

Sister of willow and willow

Types of trees or shrubs of the genus willow

Story by A. Chekhov

Which tree is especially remembered the week before Easter?

Bush with shaggy buds

In Latin - “twigs of greenery”, in Latvian - “stick”, in Lithuanian - “branch”, but what in Russian?

In Europe they celebrate Palm Sunday, but what tree replaces the palm tree in our country?

Willow relative

Tree with furry buds

. "resurrection" tree (Christ.)

. "Sunday" sister of the willow

Willow tree

Willow family tree

The willow family includes about 400 species, included in three genera: poplar (Populus, 25-30 species), willow (Salix, 350-370 species) and Chosenia (1 species). The vast majority of species of the willow family belong to temperate climates. Only a few species of willows and poplars have penetrated into the tropics; significantly more species (only willows) penetrated into the Arctic and highlands. Only 2 species of willows extend into the temperate zone of the southern hemisphere (one in Africa and the other in South America). Otherwise, the family is confined to the northern hemisphere. Asia is richest in species of willows and poplars, followed by North America; in Europe there are fewer species, and in Africa very few.

All willows are photophilous and moisture-loving, although to varying degrees. Poplars are always trees. Among the willows there are both tall trees, shrubs and small shrubs. However, even the most dwarf arctic and alpine species still did not become grasses (Plant Life, 1974).

Willows are characterized by whole leaves, usually with stipules, arranged alternately (some willows have leaves close together in pairs). All willows are dioecious and have unisexual flowers; bisexual specimens occur only as an anomaly. Inflorescences, usually called catkins, are a spike or raceme with very shortened pedicels and a soft, often drooping axis; in male specimens after flowering, and in female specimens after ripening and dispersal of seeds, the catkins fall off entirely. The flowers are borne in the axils of bracts (bracts), whole in willows and choicenia and usually fringedly incised in poplars. Willows and choicenia have sessile flowers, while poplars have flowers on pedicels, to which the base of the bracts grows. Willow flowers are devoid of perianth; instead there are 1-3 small honey glands (nectaries). Poplars do not have nectaries, but they do have a goblet-shaped perianth. Chosenia has neither nectaries nor perianth. There are 1-12 stamens in a flower in willows (in most species - 2), in Chosenia - 3-6, in poplars - from 6 to 40. In poplars and Chosenia, the pollen is dry and carried by the wind; Willows have sticky pollen and pollination is carried out by insects. The gynoecium in willows and chozenia has 2, in poplars it has 2-4 carpels; when ripe, it becomes a dry capsule, cracking along the midline of the carpels. The seeds are small (1-2 mm long) and have a very thin translucent shell.

The seeds are equipped with a tuft of fine hairs and are easily carried by the wind over considerable distances.

When placed on moist soil, the seeds germinate very quickly - usually within the first 24 hours, and in warm weather sometimes within a few hours (germination may be delayed in the cold). The embryo quickly swells and emerges from the seed shell. At the tip of the hypocotyl, a corolla of thin hairs is formed, which attracts the tip of the hypocotyl to the ground and places the embryo vertically; after this, the root begins to grow quickly, and the cotyledons diverge, opening the bud. Seedling development usually also proceeds quickly, and in the first year of life, seedlings of many willows and poplars can reach a height of 30-60 cm and even 1 m. In Arctic willows, growth is sharply slowed down and one-year-old seedlings can be several millimeters high (Plant Life, 1974 ).

Having the advantage of rapid germination, the seeds of willows, poplars and choicenia also have a significant drawback: they, as a rule, remain viable for no longer than 3-4 weeks; Only in the cold can germination last longer.

Genus poplar

The relatively most primitive genus of willow is considered to be the poplar. Among poplars, 7 very natural groups are easily distinguished, which are given different systematic ranks of subgenera or sections by different authors.

Subgenus Aspen- This is the most widespread group, consisting of 5 species: three in Eurasia and two in North America. Aspens are distinguished by the fact that their buds and leaves do not secrete resin, the leaf blades are wide and usually wavy-toothed at the edges, and the petioles are long, which is why the aspen leaves tremble even with a light blow of wind (hence the Latin name Tremula - trembling). The bracts of aspens are usually black, fringedly dissected and densely pubescent with long hairs. The gynoecium consists of 2 carpels, the capsule is small, narrow and smooth.

All aspens are forest trees, forming a stand of pure trees or mixed with other species. Aspens quickly populate areas deforested as a result of logging or other reasons, but they are relatively short-lived (very rarely reaching a century of age) and are gradually replaced by shade-tolerant and more durable species. Unlike most other poplars, aspens usually do not colonize fresh river sediments and therefore are distributed primarily in non-floodplain conditions (Plant Life, 1974).

Aspens produce abundant growth from roots that are usually located shallow. If you cut down an old aspen tree, the growth of growth around its stump will be especially intensive. Because of this, often entire groups or groves of aspen trees are one clone, which is usually easy to notice, especially in the spring. Aspens are very diverse in the color of the trunk bark, the nature of branching, the pubescence and color of young leaves, the size and serration of mature leaves, and the timing of spring bud opening. All trees belonging to one clone are similar to each other, but are noticeably different from trees of another clone.

The largest distribution area among all poplars (and one of the largest among all tree species in general) is the common aspen, or Euro-Siberian aspen (Populus tremula). It grows throughout almost all of Europe (except for the tundra and desert zones and the strip of Mediterranean vegetation) and Central Asia. The two North American aspens have fairly wide ranges. On the contrary, two very similar species of purely Asian aspens have very limited distribution areas. One is in the mountains of central China, and the other is in the Eastern Himalayas.

Subgenus white poplar closely related to aspens. Like aspens, they are devoid of resin and have a small, narrow, bivalve capsule; like aspens, their catkins are densely pubescent. The most characteristic features of white poplars, which have no analogues in other groups, are the palmate-lobed shape of the leaves of the shoots and the dense snow-white pubescence of the underside of these leaves. In their natural state, white poplars are always confined to river floodplains.

There are only two types of white poplars. One - white poplar (P. alba) - is distributed in the central and southern zone of all of Europe, in the Caucasus and Asia Minor, in Southern Siberia. In addition, it is very widely cultivated in parks and on streets almost all over the world. In particular, white poplar is very common in cultivation throughout Central Asia, where its wild groves and groves regenerating with root shoots are sometimes mistaken for native wild ones. Another type of white poplar (P. tomentosa) is in China. In nature and in culture, hybrids of white poplar and aspen are often found (Plant Life, 1974).

Subgenus Turangi- a group adapted to existence in a hot and dry climate. Three species: poplar (P. pruinosa) - in Central Asia and Western China; Euphrates poplar (P. euphratica) with a wide range stretching from Mongolia and Western China through Central Asia and the Middle East to Morocco, with isolated habitats in the Southern Transcaucasus and Southern Spain; Holly poplar (P. ilicifolia) - in East tropical Africa.

Turang poplars are small trees that from a distance resemble aspen, but with an even looser crown, forming light sparse groves along rivers or in lowlands with shallow groundwater, slightly saline water. Unlike all other poplars, their trunk does not grow monopodially, but sympodially, like willows. The leaves are dense, glaucous, with an isolateral anatomical structure (i.e., with palisade parenchyma not only on the upper, but also on the lower side). In Euphrates poplar, the leaves of the shoots differ sharply in shape from the leaves of the shoots in the old part of the crown (the former are narrow and long, the latter are round and coarsely toothed); sometimes there is a significant difference even between the leaves of the same shoot. Unlike other poplars, the perianth of turangas falls off when the capsules ripen.

Subgenus Black or deltoid, poplars have characteristic delta-shaped leaves on long petioles that sway in the wind, like aspens. Young leaves secrete a fragrant resin. They are confined to riverine and floodplain habitats. Euro-Siberian black poplar, or sedge (P. nigra), is distributed in the middle and southern zone of all of Europe (going everywhere somewhat north of the white poplar), in the Caucasus and Asia Minor, in Northern Kazakhstan and the southern strip of Siberia to the Yenisei. Central Asian black poplar, or Afghan poplar (R. afghanica), is common along the rivers of the lower mountain belt of Central Asia and Afghanistan. Both species have forms with a narrow columnar (pyramidal) crown, which are widely bred in the southern regions of our country and abroad. Two or three species of black poplar exist in North America; Of these, one, which has the widest range and extends further to the north, the deltoid poplar (P. deltoides) is very widely bred in Western Europe. In East Asia, black poplars are not found in their natural state (Plant Life, 1974).

Subgenus Balsam poplar so named because the leaves and buds of these trees are especially rich in fragrant resin, which was previously used for medicinal purposes. They differ from other poplars by the presence of true shortened shoots (brachyblasts), on which only 2 - 5 leaves develop per year and leaf scars are located close to one another, as well as by a leaf petiole that is round in cross section (in other poplars the petiole is laterally flattened). The bolls are usually 3-4-leafed, unevenly tuberous on the outside. Balsam poplars are common in the eastern half of Asia and North America and are absent in Europe, Africa and Western Asia.

Subgenus Mexican poplars- the least known group. Confined to the northern highlands of Mexico and adjacent areas of the United States. According to morphological characteristics, they are something like a cross between aspens and black poplars, but they differ in the small size of all organs. One or two types.

Subgenus Leucoid poplars, apparently, the most archaic, relict group, with a broken range of two relatively small fragments: in the southeastern Atlantic zone of the United States (poplar heterophylla - P. heterophylla) and in Southern China and the Himalayas (3 species). This group occupies a middle position between such extreme branches of the genus as aspens and balsam poplars. All its species are characterized by especially thick shoots and large sizes of leaves, buds and earrings. However, the trees are usually small (except for the Himalayan ciliated poplar - P. ciliata).

Due to their rapid growth and unpretentiousness, the main groups of poplars are of great importance to humans, primarily as a source of cheap wood, and then as decorative and reclamation species. Poplars are one of the main and most rewarding objects of modern tree species selection, aimed mainly at accelerating wood growth. In recent decades, various varieties (clones) of deltoid poplar, as well as various hybrids between black and balsam poplars, have become especially widespread. The latter, in particular, have spread in protective and decorative plantings almost throughout Siberia. Successful work is also underway to obtain highly productive forms of aspen by crossing European aspen with American (Plant Life, 1974).

Second genus willow - Chosenia(Chosenia). It is monotypic, consisting of one species - Chosenia arbutifolia (C. arbutifolia). This unique, very light-loving tree is distributed along pebble deposits of rivers in Eastern Siberia and the Far East, Chukotka, Sakhalin, Northern Japan and Northeastern China. Chozenia settles only on fresh pebble sediment and very quickly develops a deep vertical root; the first two to four years it grows in the form of a bush, but then produces a straight, rapidly growing trunk. Chosenia groves do not allow regeneration within themselves at all and, as they age, they disintegrate or are replaced by other species.

In permafrost areas, choicenia is an indicator of the presence of deep thawed soil. Propagated only by seeds; all attempts to propagate it vegetatively by any means were unsuccessful.

Biggest genus willow - willow(Salix). Willows are found in all natural zones - from tundra to desert. In the tundra and forest-tundra, in the subalpine and alpine belts, willows play a significant role in the composition of plant communities. In the forest zone, willows are mostly temporary species, quickly populating fresh river sediments, places of deforestation or fires in forests, neglected cultivated lands, as well as all kinds of potholes, ditches, quarries, and so on, but in the natural course of events they are soon replaced by more durable and tall ones community breeds. In the steppe zone, willows are confined only to lowlands, floodplains and sandy massifs, and in the desert - only to floodplains (Life of Plants, 1974).

Willow is usually divided into three subgenera: willow (Salix), Vetrix and Chamaetia. Most representatives subgenus willow- trees. The leaves are always uniformly serrated, sharp, flat, with unpressed veins and unturned edges, the bract scales of the catkins are uncolored, there are often more than 2 stamens, their threads are pubescent. The subgenus embraces about 30 species, which are distributed in approximately 7 sections. White willow, or willow (S. alba), is a medium-sized or even large tree with whitish-silver leaves, usually along the river valleys of the central and southern zone of the European part of the USSR, Central Asia, Kazakhstan and the south of Western Siberia; very often bred, especially in rural areas (and in Central Asia along irrigation ditches). There are also decorative weeping forms. Brittle willow (S. fragilis) is native to Asia Minor, but has spread widely throughout almost all of Europe due to the extreme ease of rooting of fragments of branches. Three-stamen willow (S. triandra) is a large shrub along rivers and in damp places, common throughout Europe and southern Siberia. Djungarian willow (S. songarica) is a tall bush or wide-crowned tree, common along the flat rivers of Central Asia. Babylonian willow (S. babylonica) is native to Northern China; in the Caucasus, Crimea, and Ukraine, its weeping forms are widely cultivated (the name “Babylonian” is explained by the fact that it came to Europe through the Middle East). Five-stamen willow (S. pentandra) is common in damp and swampy forests of the forest zone. This is a small tree with very elegant glossy foliage, blooms later than all willows, and the seeds ripen at the end of summer, and dry catkins hang on the tree all winter. All other willows (more than 300 species) are distributed between the subgenera Vetrix and Chametia.

TO subgenus Vetrix include shrubs or trees of the temperate forest zone, wet habitats of arid zones and partly forest-tundra. In addition to being taller, the species of this group are characterized by a noticeable difference between the buds containing the rudiments of vegetative or generative shoots; also usually early flowering and the structure of the generative shoot correlated with early flowering: the absence or weak development of leaves on it and the dark color of the bracts (Life of Plants, 1974).

Goat willow (S. caprea) is a forest tree common in Europe and a large part of Siberia. Ash willow (P. cinerea) is a large shrub in Europe, Western Siberia and Kazakhstan, typical for damp places with low-flow, significantly mineralized groundwater. Red willow, or shelyuga (S. acutifolia), is a tall shrub of the sandy massifs of the European part of Russia and Western Kazakhstan; divorces very often.

Subgenus Hametia embraces mainly alpine and tundra species - low-growing and creeping shrubs.

General characteristics of the Willow family (Salicaceae)

In them, the catkin usually ends an elongated and leafy shoot; therefore, flowering occurs relatively late, and the seeds have time to ripen only towards the end of the growing season. Obviously, representatives of this subgenus descended from the Vetrix subgenus due to a simplification of the vegetative sphere. Gray-blue willow (S. glauca) is the most common and widespread species of forest-tundra and southern (shrub) tundra. Reticulated willow (S. reticulata) is a circumpolar arctic-alpine species with very characteristic oval leaves, white below and with a sharply depressed network of veins above. Herbaceous willow (S. herbacea) and polar willow (S. polaris) are sharply reduced shrubs with stems hidden in the soil or moss and only leaves and catkins exposed. An interesting barberry-leaved willow (S. berberifolia) with comb-toothed small leaves is found on the Siberian loaches.

The meaning and use of willows is very diverse. Willows are used in reclamation work to strengthen the banks of reservoirs and consolidate sand. Willow shoots are good food for cows, goats, elk and deer. Willows are important early honey plants. The bark of many types is used to make high-quality tanning agents; A number of other chemicals are also obtained from the bark and leaves, including salicin, the very name of which comes from the word Salix. Wicker furniture is made from willow twigs. In many southern treeless areas, willows are an important source of cheap local timber. Finally, a number of species and forms are bred for decorative purposes (Plant Life, 1974).

Chapter II. Material and research methods

Willow family - salicaceae

Department Angiosperms (flowering) – Angiospermae (Magnoliophyta)*
Class Dicotyledons (magnoliopsida) – Dicotyledones (Magnoliopsida)
Subclass of Dilleniida - Delleniales
Order Willows - Salicales
Willow family - Salicaceae

* The classification is given according to the publication “Plant Life” in 6 5 (2) ohms, volume 4 M., Prosveshchenie, 1981

The family contains three genera and about 700 species; about 200 species are represented in our country. Distributed in temperate and cold zones up to the polar and alpine limits of vegetation; often form extensive thickets along rivers and reservoirs. The plants are relatively undemanding to the soil, mostly light-loving, short-lived, but grow quickly and begin to bear fruit early. Representatives of the family are dioecious deciduous trees, shrubs and shrubs with simple spirally arranged leaves. The flowers are unisexual, collected in lateral or apical spikes (catkins), hanging or sticking up. An individual flower consists of a stamen, pistil and perianth - disc-shaped or goblet-shaped (poplar genus) or modified into 1-2 nectaries (willow genus), or none at all (chozenia genus). Each flower sits in the axil of its own bract scales. They bloom before or during leaf bloom. Poplars and Chozenias are pollinated by the wind, and willows are pollinated by insects. The fruit is a single-locular multi-seeded capsule, cracking with two valves. The seeds are small, numerous, equipped with a tuft of hairs, and are carried by the wind over considerable distances. When placed on moist soil, the seeds germinate very quickly - usually within the first day, and in warm weather, sometimes within several hours. They grow very quickly; in the first year of life, seedlings of some willows and poplars can reach a height of 30-60 cm and even 1 meter. Willow trees are of great economic importance: their wood is used for construction purposes, for furniture, plywood, matches, chemical processing, etc., young shoots are used for weaving baskets, bark is used for tanning leather. Widely used in green building for rapid afforestation, as well as for reclamation and decorative purposes.

Genus Poplar Populus

The scientific name of the genus comes from the Latin word of the same name populus, which means “people” - according to the prevalence of the tree. The genus contains about one hundred species distributed in the Northern Hemisphere. 30 species are common in the territory of the former USSR and 15 foreign species have been introduced into culture. Representatives of the genus of trees, sometimes reaching 40-60 m in height and over one meter in diameter. A trunk with a tent-shaped, ovoid or pyramidal crown. The trunks are covered with fissured brownish-gray or dark gray bark. The buds are often sticky and aromatic. The leaf arrangement is regular. The leaves are petiolate, round, ovate, heart-shaped, diamond-shaped, deltoid or lanceolate, even on the same tree they vary depending on the shoots on which they are located and on the position on the shoot. Plants are dioecious. Fruiting occurs at 10-12 years. Inflorescences are cylindrical catkins, erect or pendulous, bearing only staminate or only pistillate flowers. They bloom before the leaves appear or simultaneously with their blossoming. Wind-pollinated. The fruit is a capsule, opening from the apex with 2-4 valves, with numerous seeds. The seeds are small, 1-3 mm long, oblong, black-brown, with a tuft of numerous fine silky hairs at the base. When the capsules open, the seeds are blown away by the wind. Seeds quickly lose their viability. Poplar seedlings appear 10-14 hours after sowing. The rapid growth of most poplars continues until 40-60 years, after which the growth declines. Some types of poplars live up to 120-150 years; but are usually damaged early by rot. The poplar produces abundant growth from the stump; many poplars produce root shoots. The root system is superficial, as a rule, well developed, extending far beyond the crown projection. Poplars are demanding on soil fertility and good aeration; They cannot tolerate waterlogging. Very light-loving, smoke-resistant in urban conditions. In nature, most poplars grow in floodplains, along river valleys or well-moistened slope trails. Poplar wood is scatteredly vascular with poorly visible growth rings, light white, and easy to machine. It is used in paper and plywood production, for the production of rayon, matches, containers, household items and in many other industries. The value of poplars in landscaping lies in the speed of growth, the shape of the crown, and the color of the leaves.

The poplar genus is usually divided into seven groups, which are given different systematic significance by different authors.

The first group includes aspens, five species in total, three growing in Eurasia and two in North America. Aspens are distinguished by the fact that their buds and leaves do not secrete resin, the leaf blades are wide and usually wavy-toothed along the edges, the petioles are long, causing the leaves to tremble at the slightest breath of wind. The bracts of aspens are usually black, fringedly dissected and densely pubescent with long hairs. All aspens are forest trees that form pure or mixed with other tree species. Aspen plants are pioneers and quickly colonize deforested areas. Short-lived. The most widespread and well-known aspen is trembling poplar .
The second group is white poplars, this group includes only two species, the most famous of which white poplar (P. alba, common in the European part of Russia and Siberia.) White poplars are very similar to aspens. Their most characteristic feature is the palmate-lobed shape of the leaves of the shoots and the dense snow-white pubescence of the underside of the leaf.
The third group is turangas, poplars, which have adapted to exist in a hot and dry climate.
tree families (willow, birch, maple, linden, beech)

Distributed in Central Asia, Western China, and the Middle East. These are small trees that form light, sparse groves along rivers or in lowlands with a shallow level of groundwater, slightly saline.
The fourth group is black poplars. They are distinguished by the characteristic shape of leaves that sway in the wind like aspens. The most famous of them black poplar, sedge (P. nigra) , common in central and southern Europe, Kazakhstan, Asia Minor, and Southern Siberia.
The fifth group is balsam poplars. They are named so because their leaves and buds are especially rich in fragrant resin, which was previously used for medicinal purposes. They differ from other poplars by the presence of true shortened shoots, on which only 2-5 leaves develop. Of the poplars growing in our country, this group includes: laurel poplar, sweet poplar, Korean poplar, Maksimovich poplar and balsam poplar.
The sixth group is Mexican poplars. Confined to the northern highlands of Mexico and adjacent areas of the United States. According to morphological characteristics, they are a cross between aspens and black poplars.
And the last group is leucoid poplars, some of which grow in the USA, others in Southern China and the Himalayas.

There is another division of the poplar genus into sections. Some authors divide the poplar genus into five sections: turanga, leika (which includes two groups: white poplars and aspens), black poplars, balsam poplars, white-like poplars.

Representatives:

Aspen. Trembling poplar

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Willow family

Otherwise, the family is confined to the northern hemisphere. Asia is richest in species of willows and poplars, followed by North America; in Europe there are fewer species, and in Africa very few. All willows are photophilous and moisture-loving, although to varying degrees. Poplars are always trees. Among the willows there are both tall trees, shrubs and small shrubs. However, even the most dwarf arctic and alpine species still did not become grasses. Willows are characterized by whole leaves, usually with stipules, arranged alternately (some willows have leaves close together in pairs).

All willows are dioecious and have unisexual flowers; bisexual specimens occur only as an anomaly. Inflorescences, usually called catkins, are a spike or raceme with very shortened pedicels and a soft, often drooping axis; in male specimens after flowering, and in female specimens after ripening and dispersal of seeds, the catkins fall off entirely. The flowers are borne in the axils of bracts (bracts), whole in willows and choicenia and usually fringedly incised in poplars.

Willow

The flowers are collected in earring-shaped inflorescences. The fruit is a capsule. Among the Willows, the most primitive is the Poplar genus, and the more evolutionarily advanced is the Willow genus. Species of poplars, choicenia, and tree willows are of great importance in the formation of floodplain forests; aspen is one of the most important forms of small-leaved forests.

Willows and choicenia have sessile flowers, while poplars have flowers on pedicels, to which the base of the bracts grows. Willow flowers are devoid of perianth; instead there are 1-3 small honey glands (nectaries). Poplars do not have nectaries, but they do have a goblet-shaped perianth. Chosenia has neither nectaries nor perianth. There are 1-12 stamens in a flower in willows (in most species - 2), in Chosenia - 3-6, in poplars - from 6 to 40. In poplars and Chosenia, the pollen is dry and carried by the wind; Willows have sticky pollen and pollination is carried out by insects.

Willow family

The seeds are equipped with a tuft of fine hairs and are easily carried by the wind over considerable distances. When placed on moist soil, the seeds germinate very quickly - usually within the first 24 hours, and in warm weather sometimes within a few hours (germination may be delayed in the cold). The embryo quickly swells and emerges from the seed shell.

At the tip of the hypocotyl, a corolla of thin hairs is formed, which attracts the tip of the hypocotyl to the ground and places the embryo vertically; after this, the root begins to grow quickly, and the cotyledons diverge, opening the bud. The development of the seedling usually also proceeds quickly, and in the first year of life, seedlings of many willows and poplars can reach a height of 30-60 cm and even 1 m. In Arctic willows, growth is sharply slowed down and one-year-old seedlings can be several millimeters high. Having the advantage of rapid germination, the seeds of willows, poplars and choicenia also have a significant drawback: they, as a rule, remain viable for no longer than 3-4 weeks; Only in the cold can germination last longer. The relatively most primitive genus of willow is considered to be the poplar. Among poplars, 7 very natural groups are easily distinguished, which are given different systematic ranks of subgenera or sections by different authors. We will consider these groups separately.

INTRODUCTION

Willow family (SALICACEAE) drooping axis; in male specimens after flowering, and in female specimens after ripening and dispersal of seeds, the catkins fall off entirely. The flowers are borne in the axils of bracts (bracts), whole in willows and choicenia and usually fringedly incised in poplars. Willows and Chosenia have sessile flowers, while poplars have flowers on pedicels, to which the base of the bracts grows. Willow flowers are devoid of perianth; instead there are 1-3 small honey glands (nectaries). Poplars do not have nectaries, but they do have a goblet-shaped perianth. Chosenia has neither nectaries nor perianth. There are 1-12 stamens in a flower in willows (in most species - 2), in Chosenia - 3-6, in poplars - from 6 to 40. In poplars and Chosenia, the pollen is dry and carried by the wind; Willows have sticky pollen and pollination is carried out by insects. The willow family includes about 400 species, included in three genera: poplar (Populus, 25-30 species), willow (Salix, 350-370 species) and Chosenia (1 species). The vast majority of species of the willow family belong to temperate climates. Only a few species of willows and poplars have penetrated into the tropics; significantly more species (only willows) penetrated into the Arctic and highlands. Only 2 species of willows extend into the temperate zone of the southern hemisphere (one in Africa and the other in South America). Otherwise, the family is confined to the northern hemisphere. Asia is richest in species of willows and poplars, followed by North America; in Europe there are fewer species, and in Africa very few. All willows are photophilous and moisture-loving, although to varying degrees. Poplars are always trees. Among the willows there are both tall trees, shrubs and small shrubs. However, even the most dwarf arctic and alpine species still did not become grasses. Willows are characterized by whole leaves, usually with stipules, arranged alternately (some willows have leaves close together in pairs). All willows are dioecious and have unisexual flowers; bisexual specimens occur only as an anomaly. Inflorescences, usually called catkins, are a spike or raceme with very shortened pedicels and soft, often

The gynoecium in willows and choicenia has 2, and in poplars it has 2-4 carpels; when ripe, it becomes a dry capsule, cracking along the midline of the carpels. The seeds are small (1-2 mm long), have a very thin translucent shell and contain a straight embryo of two cotyledons flatly adjacent to each other, a tiny bud between them and a subcotyledon (hypocotyl). All parts of the embryo contain chloroplasts, but there are almost no reserves of nutrients. The seeds are equipped with a tuft of fine hairs and are easily carried by the wind over considerable distances. When placed on moist soil, the seeds germinate very quickly - usually within the first 24 hours, and in warm weather sometimes within a few hours (germination may be delayed in the cold). The embryo quickly swells and emerges from the seed shell. At the tip of the hypocotyl, a corolla of thin hairs is formed, which attracts the tip of the hypocotyl to the ground and places the embryo vertically; after this, the root begins to grow quickly, and the cotyledons diverge, opening the bud. The development of the seedling usually also proceeds quickly, and in the first year of life, seedlings of many willows and poplars can reach a height of 30-60 cm and even 1 m. In Arctic willows, growth is sharply slowed down and one-year-old seedlings can be several millimeters high.

Having such an advantage as the speed of germination, the seeds of willows, poplars and choicenia at the same time have a significant drawback: they, as a rule, remain viable for no longer than 3 - 4 weeks; Only in the cold can germination last longer. The relatively most primitive genus of willow is considered to be the poplar. Among poplars, 7 very natural groups are easily distinguished, which are given different systematic ranks of subgenera or sections by different authors.

willow flower family hybrid

1. BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE WILLOW FAMILY

1.1 Botanical description

The foliage of some species of willows is dense, curly, green, while others have sparse, see-through, gray-green or gray-white foliage.
Leaves are alternate, petiolate; The leaf blade in some species is wide and elliptical, in others it is quite narrow and long; The edge of the plate is entire in only a few species, while in the majority it is finely or coarsely serrated. The plate is either shiny, bright green on both surfaces, or only on the top; The lower surface of such willows is gray or bluish due to hairs and a bluish coating. The cylindrical petiole is rather short; at its base there are two stipules, mostly jagged, wide or narrow; they persist either only until the leaf is fully developed, or all summer. Stipules serve as a good indicator for distinguishing between different types of willows; one species, called the long-eared willow (Salix aurita), has large stipules protruding in the form of ears. It is very interesting that stipules develop most on young shoots growing from the trunk or from the roots.

The stem is branched; the branches are thin, twig-like, flexible, brittle, with matte or shiny bark, purple, green and other colors. The buds are also of different colors, dark brown, red-yellow, etc.; their outer integumentary scales grow together with their edges into a solid cap or sheath, which separates at its base when the buds grow and then falls off entirely. The apical bud on the branches usually dies, and the lateral one adjacent to it gives the strongest shoot and, so to speak, replaces the dead apical bud.

Some of the willows bloom in early spring before the leaves bloom (for example, Salix daphnoides), others - in early summer, simultaneously with the appearance of leaves or even later (for example, Salix pentandra).

The flowers are dioecious, very small and hardly noticeable in themselves; Only due to the fact that they are collected in dense inflorescences (catkins), it is not difficult to find them, and in willows that bloom before the leaves bloom, the inflorescences are clearly visible. Earrings are unisexual, or with only male or only female flowers; male and female catkins appear on different individuals: willow is a dioecious plant in the full sense of the word. A description of the structure of catkins and flowers is given below in the article: Willow; it also talks about pollination of willows.

The fruit is a capsule that opens with two doors. The seed is very small, covered with white fluff, very light, easily transported by the wind over long distances. In the air, willow seeds remain viable for only a few days; Once in the water, at the bottom of water pools, they retain their viability for several years. This is the reason why dry ditches, ponds, and silty mud scooped out when cleaning a pond or river are sometimes abundantly covered with willow shoots in a relatively short time. The young willow sprout is very weak and is easily drowned out by grass, but it grows very quickly; Woody willows generally grow unusually quickly in the first years of their life. In nature, willows reproduce by seeds, but in culture, mainly by cuttings and layering; a live willow branch or a stake driven into the ground quickly take root.

1.2 History of the study of the willow family

The botanical history of willow begins in the 1st century. Pliny the Elder, author of the famous “Natural History” in 37 books, was the first scientist to describe eight species of willow.

Since the 18th century, scientists have been attempting to develop a unified classification of willows. The famous botanist Carl Linnaeus identified twenty-nine species of willows. At first they agreed with him, but a few years later the scientist Scopoli disputed Linnaeus's conclusions.

We find the beginning of the study of willows in Russia in the works of Gmelin. In “Flora Sibirica”, of the 15 species of willows described by Gmelin (1747), Linnaeus cited only seven - those that are common in Europe: in notes to some species, Linnaeus (1753) indicated the use of specimens and materials sent to him by I.G. Gmelin.

Subsequently, instructions on the species composition of the genus for the territory of Russia are given by P. S. Pallas. Pallas's Flora Rossica lists 35 species of the genus Salix.

The authors of British Flora proposed forty-five species of willows. Botanist Wildenow - 116 species. Biologist Koch describes 182 species. The furthest is the botanist Gandoje, who identified 1,600 species. Works of European researchers Smith (1804), Wildenow (1806), Schleicher (1807, 1821), Wade (1811), Wahlenberg (1812, 1826), Seringe (1815), Fries ( Fries, 1825, 1828, 1832, 1840), Koch (1828), Host (1828), Forbes (1829), Sadler (1831), Hooker (1835) were distinguished by a tendency to describe narrow species. The mistake of many scientists was to identify numerous willow hybrids as independent species.

V.L. Komarov for the flora of Manchuria (1903) provided data on the distribution, morphology, ecology for 16 species of the genus Salix - of which for one of the subgenus Chamaetia: S. myrtilloides. He described a new species for science: endemic to the Kamchatka Peninsula - S. erythrocarpa (Novitates Asiae Orientalis, 1914).

E. L. Wolf made significant contributions (regarding the subgenera Salix and Vetrix) to the study of willows. He described (Wolf, 1903, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1911, 1912, 1929) 18 species of willows; Of these, five species now remain, the rest are reduced to synonyms or classified as hybrids. After the publication of Flora of the USSR (1936), data on the morphology, ecology, and distribution of willows was enriched through scientific research in various regions of Russia.

A.I. made a certain contribution to the study of Sakhalin willows, as well as all shrub and woody plants of the island. Tolmachev (1956).

L.F. Pravdin published the work “Trees and Shrubs of the USSR” in 1951.

The taxonomy of willows was most fully outlined by the Russian scientist Yuri Konstantinovich Skvortsov in his book “Willows of the USSR,” published in 1968. He carried out a critical revision of all the accumulated data. The species composition in the flora of the USSR has been clarified. The nomenclature of all taxa described from the territory of Russia was studied, typification was carried out, and priority names were selected. The diagnostic characteristics of the species were clarified, subspecies were identified, and identification keys were compiled.

The debate about the taxonomy of willows is still not over. Many countries have their own schools of willow specialists.

The largest willow herbariums are the US State Herbarium, the Herbarium of the Royal Botanical Garden in England, exhibits of the Natural History Museum in Paris, and dozens of university botanical collections.

1.3 Evolution and distribution

The willow appeared on earth quite early, its imprints can be found already in the Cretaceous formation, and even modern species lived in the Quaternary era (Salix cinerea, Salix alba, Salix viminalis).

There are at least 170 species of willows, distributed mainly in the cool regions of the Northern Hemisphere, where the willow extends beyond the Arctic Circle. Several taxa are native to the tropics. In North America there are more than 65 species, of which only 25 reach tree size.

Most willows are small trees 10-15 m or shrubs, but there are willows 30-40 m high and with a trunk diameter of more than 0.5 m.

In cold countries, willows grow far in the north, such as the very low dwarf willows Salix retusa, Salix reticulata, Salix herbacea, Salix polaris. In the mountains grow low-growing willows Salix herbacea and others, which reach the very snowy border. Polar and alpine willows are low-growing creeping shrubs - up to several centimeters in height (Polar willow (Salix polaris), Herbaceous willow (Salix herbacea) and others).

Their interspecific hybrids are often found.

Various types of willow are called: willow, willow, shelyuga, willow (large trees and shrubs, mainly in the western regions of the European part of Russia); vine, willow (shrub species); tal, talnik (mostly shrub species, in the eastern regions of the European part, in Siberia and Central Asia).

Thanks to the ability to produce adventitious roots, willows can easily be propagated by cuttings and even stakes (with the exception of Salix caprea - bredena, or goat willow). Seeds lose their viability within a few days; Only the five-stamen willow (Salix pentandra) seeds remain viable until next spring.

2. SPECIES OF THE WILLOW FAMILY AND PRACTICAL APPLICATION

2.1 Species of the genus Willow

Aspens are the most widespread group, consisting of 5 species: three in Eurasia and two in North America. Aspens are distinguished by the fact that their buds and leaves do not secrete resin, the leaf blades are wide and usually wavy-toothed at the edges, and the petioles are long, which is why the aspen leaves tremble even with a light blow of wind (hence the Latin name Tremula - trembling). The bracts of aspens are usually black, fringedly dissected and densely pubescent with long hairs. The gynoecium consists of 2 carpels, the capsule is small, narrow and smooth. All aspens are forest trees, forming a stand alone or mixed with other species. Aspens quickly populate areas deforested as a result of logging or other reasons, but they are relatively short-lived (very rarely reaching a century of age) and are gradually replaced by shade-tolerant and more durable species. Unlike most other poplars, aspens usually do not colonize fresh river sediments and therefore are distributed primarily in non-floodplain conditions. Aspens produce abundant growth from roots that are usually located shallow. If you cut down an old aspen tree, the growth of growth around its stump will be especially intensive. Because of this, often entire groups or groves of aspen trees are one clone, which is usually easy to notice, especially in the spring. Aspens are very diverse in the color of the trunk bark, the nature of branching, the pubescence and color of young leaves, the size and serration of mature leaves, and the timing of spring bud opening.

All trees belonging to one clone are similar to each other, but noticeably different from trees of another clone. The two North American aspens have fairly wide ranges.

On the contrary, two very similar species of purely Asian aspens have very limited distribution areas. One is in the mountains of central China, and the other is in the Eastern Himalayas.

Turangi are a group that has adapted to living in a hot and dry climate.

Three species: poplar (P. pruinosa) - in Central Asia and Western China; Euphrates poplar (P. euphratica) with a wide range stretching from Mongolia and Western China through Central Asia and the Middle East to Morocco, with isolated habitats in the Southern Transcaucasus and Southern Spain; Holly poplar (P. ilicitolia) - in East tropical Africa. Turang poplars are small trees that from a distance resemble aspen, but with an even looser crown, forming light sparse groves along rivers or in lowlands with shallow groundwater levels, slightly saline. Unlike all other poplars, their trunk does not grow monopodially, but sympodially, like willows. The leaves are dense, glaucous, with an isolateral anatomical structure (i.e., with palisade parenchyma not only on the upper, but also on the lower side). In Euphrates poplar, the leaves of the shoots differ sharply in shape from the leaves of the shoots in the old part of the crown (the former are narrow and long, the latter are round and coarsely toothed); sometimes there is a significant difference even between the leaves of the same shoot. Unlike other poplars, the perianth of turangas falls off when the capsules ripen.

Black, or deltoid, poplars have characteristic delta-shaped leaves on long petioles that sway in the wind, like aspens. Young leaves secrete a fragrant resin. Confined to riverine and floodplain habitats. Euro-Siberian black poplar, or sedge (P. nigra), is distributed in the middle and southern zone of all of Europe (going everywhere somewhat north of the white poplar), in the Caucasus and Asia Minor, in Northern Kazakhstan and the southern strip of Siberia to the Yenisei. Central Asian black poplar, or Afghan poplar (R. afghanica), is common along the rivers of the lower mountain belt of Central Asia and Afghanistan. Both species have forms with a narrow columnar (pyramidal) crown, which are widely bred in the southern regions of our country and abroad. Two or three species of black poplar exist in North America; Of these, one, which has the widest range and extends further to the north, the deltoid poplar (P. deltoides) is very widely bred in Western Europe and in the middle and especially in the southern regions of the former USSR. In East Asia, black poplars are not found in their natural state.

Mexican poplars are the least known group. Confined to the northern highlands of Mexico and adjacent areas of the United States. According to morphological characteristics, they are something like a cross between aspens and black poplars, but they differ in the small size of all organs. One or two types. Leucoid poplars are apparently the most archaic, relict group, with a broken range of two relatively small fragments: in the southeastern Atlantic region of the United States (varifolia poplar - P. heterophylla) and in Southern China and the Himalayas (3 species). This group occupies a middle position between such extreme branches of the genus as aspens and balsam poplars. All its species are characterized by especially thick shoots and large sizes of leaves, buds and earrings. However, the trees are usually small (except for the Himalayan ciliated poplar - P. ciliata). Due to their rapid growth and unpretentiousness, the main groups of poplars are of great importance to humans, primarily as a source of cheap wood, and then as decorative and reclamation species. Poplars are one of the main and most rewarding objects of modern tree species selection, aimed mainly at accelerating wood growth. In recent decades, various varieties (clones) of deltoid poplar, as well as various hybrids between black and balsam poplars, have become especially widespread. The latter, in particular, have spread in protective and decorative plantings almost throughout Siberia. Successful work is also underway to obtain highly productive forms of aspen by crossing European aspens with American ones.

The second genus of willows is Chosenia. It is monotypic, consisting of one species - Chosenia arbutolifolia.

The third and largest genus of willows is willow (Salix). Willows are found in all geographical zones - from tundra to desert. In the tundra and forest-tundra, in the subalpine and alpine belts of mountains, willows play a significant (and in some places dominant) role in the formation of stable (indigenous) plant communities. In the forest zone, willows are mostly temporary species, quickly populating fresh river sediments, places of deforestation or fires in forests, neglected cultivated lands, as well as all kinds of potholes, ditches, quarries, and so on, but in the natural course of events they are soon replaced by more durable and tall ones breeds of indigenous communities. In the steppe zone, willows are confined only to lowlands, river floodplains and sandy massifs, and in the desert zone - only to floodplains. Willow is usually divided into three subgenera: willow (Salix), vetrix (Vetrix) and chamaetia (Chamaetia). Most representatives of the willow subgenus are trees. The leaves are always uniformly serrated, sharp, flat, with unpressed veins and unturned edges, the bract scales of the catkins are uncolored, there are often more than 2 stamens, their threads are pubescent. The subgenus embraces about 30 species, which are distributed in approximately 7 sections. Brittle willow (S. fragilis) is native to Asia Minor, but has spread widely throughout almost all of Europe due to the extreme ease of rooting of fragments of branches. Three-stamen willow (S. triandra) is a large shrub along rivers and in damp places, common throughout Europe and southern Siberia. Djungarian willow (S. songarica) is a tall bush or wide-crowned tree, common along the flat rivers of Central Asia. Babylonian willow (S. babylonica) is native to Northern China; in the Caucasus, Crimea, and Ukraine, its weeping forms are widely cultivated (the name “Babylonian” is explained by the fact that it came to Europe through the Middle East). Five-stamen willow (S. pentandra) is common in damp and swampy forests of the forest zone. This is a small tree with very elegant glossy foliage, blooms later than all willows, and the seeds ripen at the end of summer, and dry catkins hang on the tree all winter.

All other willows (more than 300 species) are distributed between the subgenera Vetrix and Chametia. The Vetrix subgenus includes taller species - shrubs or trees of the temperate forest zone, humid habitats of arid zones and partly subalps and forest-tundra. In addition to being taller, the species of this group are characterized by a noticeable difference between the buds containing the rudiments of vegetative or generative shoots; also usually early flowering and the structure of the generative shoot correlated with early flowering: the absence or weak development of leaves on it and the dark color of the bracts. Goat willow (S. caprea) is a forest tree common in Europe and large parts of Siberia. Ash willow (P. cinerea) is a large shrub in Europe, Western Siberia and Kazakhstan, typical for damp places with low-flow, significantly mineralized groundwater. Red willow, or shelyuga (S. acutifolia), is a tall shrub of sandy areas of the European part of Russia and Western Kazakhstan; divorces very often. The subgenus Hametia embraces mainly alpine and tundra species - low-growing and creeping shrubs. In them, the catkin usually ends an elongated and leafy shoot; therefore, flowering occurs relatively late, and the seeds have time to ripen only towards the end of the growing season. Obviously, representatives of this subgenus descended from the Vetrix subgenus due to a simplification of the vegetative sphere. Gray-blue willow (S. glauca) is the most common and widespread species of forest-tundra and southern (shrub) tundra. Reticulated willow (S. reticulata) is a circumpolar arctic-alpine species with very characteristic oval leaves, white below and with a sharply depressed network of veins above. Herbaceous willow (S. herbacea) and polar willow (S. polaris) are sharply reduced shrubs with stems hidden in the soil or moss and only leaves and catkins exposed. An interesting barberry-leaved willow (S. berberifolia) with comb-toothed small leaves is found on the Siberian loaches. The meaning and use of willows is very diverse. Willows are used in reclamation work to strengthen the banks of reservoirs and consolidate sand. Willow shoots are good food for cows, goats, elk and deer. Willows are important early honey plants. The bark of many species is used to make high-quality tanning agents; A number of other chemicals are also obtained from the bark and leaves, including salicin, the very name of which comes from the word Salix. Wicker furniture is made from willow twigs. In many southern treeless areas, willows are an important source of cheap local timber. Finally, a number of species and forms are bred for decorative purposes.

2.2 Practical significance of the willow family

Many species are ornamental, such as hemp willow (Salix viminalis).

Willow roots are characterized by abundant development and numerous branches and therefore are especially suitable for strengthening loose soils and sands (Shelyuga, Caspian willow). Willow cultivation is successfully used to regulate mountain streams, secure the banks of canals and rivers, slopes of dams (White Willow, Brittle Willow), cliffs and slopes. In anti-erosion plantings in forest-steppe and steppe areas (White willow, Brittle willow, Twig willow), for shelterbelts and roadside forest strips on wetter soils, to delay the movement of flying continental sands.

Willow wood is very light and soft, rots quickly, and is used for many crafts.

The leafy branches of Willow are used to feed animals, especially goats and sheep. Valuable honey plants.

The bark of many willows (for example, gray, goat, white) is used for tanning leather.

Young willow branches are used in the Orthodox tradition on Palm Sunday instead of palm leaves.

In treeless areas, willow is used as a building material.

wicker weaving:

Willow bark and twigs of some shrubby willows (twig-like, purple (yellowberry), three-stamen and others) are used to make wicker products (dishes, baskets, furniture, etc.).

For the longest possible use (for 40-50 years) of willow trees returned to produce twigs for wicker products, it is necessary to establish their correct cutting, which maintains the productivity of the stumps. For this purpose, in the first 5 years, the rods for weaving are cut annually, then they are allowed to grow for 2-3 years to obtain hoops, then the rods are cut annually again for 2-3 years, etc., alternating correctly; or with each annual cutting of the twigs, 1-2 twigs are left on each stump for 2-3 years to restore the hoops. The method of cutting and the tools used are no less important: you should not cut off all the branches of the stump at once, with one stroke, and therefore an ax and a mower are less suitable than a knife, sickle or scissors; the cut should be smooth and made closer to the stump, and the butt (remnant of the rod) should not be more than 2 cm. One-year-old rods prepared for weaving are tied into bundles or bundles (0.6-1.0 m in circumference; a worker prepares per day 15--20 fagots); three-year-old rods for hoops are cleared of branches (a worker prepares 1000-2000 of them per day).

The rods for weaving are sorted: shorter than 60 cm, very branched and with damaged bark, constitute “green goods”, the rest, the best, “white” - cleared of bark in various ways. The highest grade of white goods is obtained from Salix purpurea, Salix lambertiana, Salix uralensis, Salix viminalis, Salix amygdalina, Salix hyppophaefolia, Salix acuminata, Salix longifolia, Salix stipularis, Salix daphnoides, Salix viridis and Salix undulata; hoops are prepared mainly from Salix viminalis, Salix smithiana and Salix acutifolia; The vines used for staking (in France) are Salix alba var. vitellina, while larger materials - arc forest - are supplied by Salix alba and its crosses: Salix excelsior, Salix russeliana, Salix viridis and Salix palustris.

Application in medicine:

According to Russian studies by Nikitin (autumn) and Smirnov (spring), it contains tannin: Salix caprea - 12.12% and 6.43%, Salix cinerea - 10.91% and 5.31%, Salix alba - 9.39% and 4.37%, Salix fragilis - 9.39% and 4.68%, Salix amygdalina - 9.39% and 4.62%). In terms of the content of plant alkaloid - salicin - the bark of Salix purpurea is richest.

Willow bark has an antibiotic effect. In folk medicine, a decoction of the bark is used to treat colds. The bark of some species contains the glycoside salicin, which has medicinal value. Willow bark extracts, due to the presence of salicylates, have an anti-inflammatory effect. Salicylic acid was first discovered in willow, hence its name.

CONCLUSION

A genus of plants in the willow family. Trees, shrubs or shrubs with spirally arranged, mostly short-petioled, leaves. Willow flowers are unisexual, dioecious, without a perianth; they sit in the axils of the covering scales and are collected in brushes called catkins. Male flowers mostly have 1-8 (up to 12) stamens, female flowers have 1 pistil with a single-locular ovary and two often split stigmas.

The fruit of the willow is a capsule containing many seeds with a long-haired fly. Pollination by insects (mainly bees). About 300 species, mainly in the temperate zone of Eurasia and North America. There are about 120 species in the CIS; Their interspecific hybrids are often found. Various willows are called: willow, willow, shelyuga, broom (large trees and shrubs, mainly in the western regions of the European part of Russia and Asia); vine, willow (shrub species); tal, talnik (mostly shrub species, in the eastern regions of the European part, in Siberia and Central Asia). Polar and alpine willows are low-growing creeping shrubs - up to several cm above the ground (polar willow - Salix polaris, herbaceous willow - Salix herbacea, etc.). However, there are willows 30-40 m high and more than 0.5 m in diameter. Most willows are small trees (10-15 m) or shrubs. Due to the ability to produce adventitious roots, willows can easily be propagated by cuttings and even stakes (with the exception of goat willow, or Salix caprea). Seeds lose their viability within a few days; Only the five-stamen willow (Salix pentandra) seeds remain viable until next spring.

Willow wood is very light and soft and rots quickly. Used for many crafts. In treeless areas, willow is used as a building material. The twigs of some shrub Willows - twig-like, purple (yellowberry), tristamen, etc. - are used for weaving baskets, making furniture, etc. The leafy branches of Willow are used as animal feed (especially goats and sheep). The bark of many I. (for example, gray, goat, white) is used for tanning leather. The bark of some species contains the glycoside salicin, which has medicinal value. Many species are decorative (hemp willow - Salix viminalis). Willow is used to strengthen sands (shelyuga, I. caspian), banks of canals, ditches, dam slopes (I. white, I. brittle), in anti-erosion plantings in forest-steppe and steppe areas (white, brittle, twig-like), for field protection and roadside forest belts on wetter soils.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL LIST

Plant life. In six volumes. - M.: Enlightenment. - T.5(2), 1981.

Botany. Plant taxonomy. Komarnitsky I.A., Kudryashov L.V. - M.: Education, 1975.

Sergievskaya E.V. Practical course on the taxonomy of higher plants. - L.: Leningrad University Publishing House, 1991.

Khrzhanovsky V.G. Course of general botany (plant taxonomy): - M.: Higher School, 1982.

Mirkin B.M., Naumova L.P. Higher plants. Ufa, 1998.

Flower formula

Formula of goat willow flower: *О0Т2_∞П0.

In medicine

Goat willow is not a pharmacopoeial plant and is not listed in the Register of Medicines of the Russian Federation, however, it is a raw material approved for sale for the production of dietary supplements (dietary additives). Traditional healers claim that goat willow can have a diaphoretic, antipyretic, diuretic, hemostatic, astringent and anti-inflammatory effect. According to them, rakita also has sedative, antimalarial and anthelmintic properties.

Contraindications and side effects

Goat willow is contraindicated in case of low blood clotting, gastritis with high acidity, as well as in case of individual intolerance to the plant, during pregnancy, breastfeeding and in childhood. Exceeding the dose when consuming goat willow bark decoctions can lead to constipation. Goat willow should be used only after consultation with your doctor.

In gardening

Goat willow is grown as an ornamental plant. With constant pruning, willow branches form a spectacular crown. New plant varieties have been bred especially for parks and gardens. Weeping forms look good above the surface of reservoirs, rivers, ponds, lakes. In small gardens, the miniature Kilmarnock variety or small graceful globular goat willow trees look good.

In beekeeping

Goat willow is an excellent honey plant that attracts bees, bumblebees and other insects to the garden. Goat willow honey has a delicate, pleasant taste. Fresh honey is golden yellow and when crystallized it takes on a creamy hue. Willow roots are capable of anchoring slopes.

In other areas

Previously, goat willow served as a source of “willow bark”, from which a tanning extract was produced, which was used in the production of especially valuable, soft and thin types of leather - morocco and glove leather. Nowadays various chemicals are used to produce them. Also, black dye was obtained from goat willow, suitable for dyeing coarse fabrics.

The bark and flexible and durable shoots of goat willow are suitable for making baskets and other wickerwork. Flutes are made from cuttings. Goat willow wood is suitable for small crafts, it is durable and many people like its beautiful reddish hue.

Young shoots of the plant are readily consumed by sheep and goats. It was the passion of the latter for eating the leaves and branches of the tree that served as the basis for the generic name of this species of willow.

Classification

Goat willow (lat. Salix caprea) is a species of trees or tree-like shrubs from the extensive genus Willow (lat. Salix), which includes more than 550 different species. The genus belongs to the Willow family (lat. Salicaceae).

Botanical description

Goat willow trees or shrubs can reach a height of 10-12 meters. Young plants have a felty gray-green bark; with age it becomes brown, loses its pubescence, the outer layers crack and closer to the root the red wood of the plant emerges from under them. The branches of goat willow are thick and spreading, pubescent in young plants, greenish-gray or brownish-yellow; with age they become brittle, smooth, knotty, brown or gray. The leaves of a plant can have very different sizes, shapes and have a varied surface. They reach up to 18 cm in length and up to 8 cm in width, but can be only 2 cm wide and 6 cm long. Goat willow leaves reach their greatest width in the middle of the blade; on top they are often leathery, wrinkled, dark green, below - gray felt. The shape of willow leaves can be round, ovoid, elliptical, oblong-lanceolate, with jagged or wavy edges. The small flowers are collected in a spike-shaped inflorescence known as an catkin. Dense, pubescent along the axis, goat willow catkins are male and female. Men's earrings are sessile, reaching 6 cm in length, women's - on short legs and up to 0.5 cm in length. The formula of the goat willow flower is *O0T2_∞ P0. The fruits of the plant are sparsely hairy capsules on long, pubescent stalks, reaching a length of 8 mm. Each capsule leaf contains up to 18 small seeds.

Spreading

Goat willow grows throughout almost all of Europe, excluding only the Alps and tundra, as well as in Central and Western Asia, and the Caucasus. In Russia, the plant can be found throughout the European part, the Far East and Siberia.

The plant prefers damp mixed or coniferous forests, grows in clearings, forest edges, and often grows along roads and near housing.

Regions of distribution on the map of Russia.

Procurement of raw materials

Medicinal raw materials are the bark, leaves and male inflorescences of the plant. The bark is removed during sap flow, that is, at the very beginning of spring, before flowering begins and the buds burst. The bark is removed from two- or three-year-old shoots by cutting off the branches with garden pruners or a small hatchet. The raw materials are laid out on a fabric backing or hung, choosing dry, well-ventilated rooms or a place under a canopy in the fresh air. The finished raw material should crack and not bend when bent. Also, the leaves and inflorescences of the plant, which are collected in early summer, are dried indoors or in the air. Men's earrings are harvested in April.

The resulting raw materials are stored in linen or paper bags in a dry, well-ventilated area for about 3 years.

Chemical composition

The chemical composition of goat willow is considered to be sufficiently studied. The bark of the plant contains tannins, flavonoids, alkaloids, phenol glycosides, including salicin and its derivatives, bitter substances, ascorbic acid, acid hydrolyzate, consisting of lauric, margaric, pentadecanoic, myristic, arachidic and heneicosanoic acids.

Tannic, resinous and bitter substances, ascorbic acid, salicin, saponins, and organic acids were found in male inflorescences.

The quantitative content of biologically active substances in the bark, leaves and catkins of goat willow can change in different phases of the growing season and depends on the growing conditions of the plant.

Pharmacological properties

The medicinal effect of goat willow is due to the rich chemical composition of the plant. The substances contained in the bark and leaves have low toxicity and a wide range of pharmacological effects.

The main medicinal effect of the plant is associated with the glycoside salicin it contains, which can have an anti-inflammatory and mild analgesic effect. It is salicin that determines the antipyretic effect of goat willow bark, which is manifested by an increase in the rate of heat transfer when salicin acts on thermoregulation centers. Under the influence of salicin, subcutaneous blood vessels also dilate and sweating increases.

In experiments conducted in 1959 by Doctor of Biological Sciences, Professor Igor Nikolaevich Todorov, it was proven that willow bark extract has a hemostatic effect, it promotes vasoconstriction and enhances blood clotting.

Use in folk medicine

Goat willow has found wide use in folk medicine. The bark of the plant is used as an astringent for diarrhea and gastrointestinal disorders. It is used as a hemostatic agent for hemorrhoids. Both the bark and tea from the leaves are used as an antipyretic and diaphoretic for fevers, flu, acute respiratory infections, and other colds. The diuretic properties of the plant help relieve swelling of various origins, so the decoction is suggested to be used for kidney diseases and hypertension. They drink decoctions of goat willow bark for headaches, malaria, and use them as an anthelmintic. You can also rinse your mouth with a decoction of the plant to strengthen your gums and get rid of their bleeding; it is also effective as an antiscorbutic remedy.

Lotions and baths made from infusion of goat willow bark are recommended for ulcers and boils. Powdered bark of the plant is sprinkled on wounds for speedy healing. Fresh bark is applied to burns.

A tincture of male inflorescences of goat willow is used for arrhythmia and tachycardia.

Historical reference

Goat willow owes its specific epithet to Hieronymus Bock, a German botanist, herbalist author and artist David Kandel. In 1546, the pages of Bock's Kreutterbuch not only described the plant, but also depicted a willow being eaten by a goat.

The medicinal use of willow bark goes back a long way. In ancient times, willow was used as a wound-healing and antipyretic agent. Theophrastus and Dioscorides wrote about its properties. Avicenna mentioned the plant in the “Canon of Medical Science”. He suggested drinking the juice of the plant for jaundice, and a decoction of the bark for hemoptysis and tumors.

Willow is also described in the famous “Salerno Code of Health”. Its tincture was used to treat fevers and colds, grinding the bark into powder, using this remedy for wounds and abscesses, mixing this powder with vinegar, and removing warts with the resulting ointment. Willow was also known as a remedy that was used to treat malaria in the absence of quinine.

The Slavs also knew about the beneficial properties of willow and used it for fevers and inflammatory processes, treated pain in the legs with baths of willow infusions, washed their hair with a decoction of the bark, getting rid of dandruff and itching.

The medicinal properties of goat willow were used in Tibetan medicine. Healers used the plant for dropsy, pulmonary diseases, poisoning and pneumonia.

Willow was also endowed with magical properties. It was believed that it drives away evil spirits and acts as a talisman against troubles and misfortunes.

Literature

Lavrenov V.K., Lavrenova G.V. “Encyclopedia of medicinal plants of traditional medicine, St. Petersburg, Publishing House “Neva”, 2003 - 87-88 p.
Gubanov I.A., Krylova I.L., Tikhonova V.L. “Wild-growing useful plants of the USSR”, Moscow, Publishing House “Mysl”, 1976 -78-79 p.