The family consists of two genera, Salix and Populus, both of which are propagated easily by cuttings, grow rapidly, and characteristically bear male and female flowers in catkins on separate plants. Cottonwoods were a welcome sight to the pioneers pushing westward, for they marked the streams in the otherwise treeless Great Plains. The bushes and their twigs used in basketry are often called osiers. The trees are valuable in erosion control along riverbanks because of their rapid growth. Populus gileadensis, an ancient horticultural species whose original form is unknown, is one of the plants called balm of Gilead .
Yellow poplar is a name sometimes used for the unrelated tulip tree of the magnolia family.
Willows are classified in the division Magnoliophyta , class Magnoliopsida, order Salicales, family Salicaceae. Listing from Electric Library , a pay service. Sixth Edition Copyright 2000, Columbia University Press. Copyright 2001 Infonautics Corporation . All rights reserved.