What is "salicaceae"

Salicaceae or the willow family is a family of flowering plants. The traditional family (Salicaceae sensu stricto) included the willows, poplar, aspen and cottonwoods. Recent genetic studies summarized by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group have greatly expanded the circumscription of the family to contain 56 genera and ca 1220 species.

In the Cronquist system, the Salicaceae were assigned to their own order, Salicales, and contained three genera ( Salix, Populus and Chosenia). The family is placed by the APG in the order Malpighiales.