Transcript November 5 - Montana State University Billings

Kansas Cottonwood
by Debra White
There’s something sacred about the way she’s dying
The old cottonwood in our backyard—dying in sections, one limb at a
time.
And now nearly half of her is dried, leafless,
bark peeling off leaving her naked skin
to be eaten by insects and pecked at by woodpeckers.
Yet it’s the death in her that keeps the rest of her living… and giving
shade to us and refuge for squirrels and birds who want to hide.
But branch by branch, she’s letting go until one spring
She’ll decide to not wake up from hibernation.
Then, birds will weep and so will I.
Salicaceae
In the Cronquist System, the Salicaceae
was treated in its own order Salicales, and
contained only three genera (Salix,
Populus and Chosenia), but APG includes
it in the Malpighiales.
 Recent genetic studies by the Angiosperm
Phylogeny Group (APG) has greatly
expanded the circumscription of the family
to contain 58 genera and 1210 species.

Salicaceae
Major genera include:
 Salix (450 spp.), Casearia (180 spp.),
Homalium (180 spp.), Xylosma (85 spp.),
Populus (35 spp.), and Banara (31).
 In the continental United States and
Canada: Salix, Populus, Xylosma,
Flacourtia occur.

Salicaceae

Salix (willow) and Populus (poplar, cottonwood,
aspen) provide lumber, wood pulp, and
ornamentals. The bark of Salix was (is) used
medicinally due to the presence of salicylic acid
(a major component of aspirin), which reduces
swelling and fever. Certain species of Flacourtia
and Dovyalis are cultivated for their edible,
fleshy fruits. Several genera provide useful
ornamentals (Oncoba, Casearia, Idesia, and
Samyda.)
Salicaceae
In Montana, native genera include (Dorn
1984):
 Salix (30 +/- spp.), Populus (5 spp.)

Salix
Family: Salicaceae

Willows, sallows and osiers form the genus Salix,
around 450 species of deciduous trees and shrubs,
found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate
regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Most species are
known as willow, but some narrow-leaved shrub species
are called osier, and some broader-leaved species are
called sallow (the latter name is derived from the Latin
word salix, willow). Some willows (particularly arctic and
alpine species), are low-growing or creeping shrubs; for
example the dwarf willow (Salix herbacea) rarely
exceeds 6 cm in height, though spreading widely across
the ground.
Salix
Family: Salicaceae
Willows are very cross-fertile and
numerous hybrids occur, both naturally
and in cultivation. It is often difficult to
distinguish hybrids from species.
 Michael Dirr in his Manual of Woody
Landscape Plants 1990 says he is not
convinced that anyone has a solid grasp
on Salix nomenclature.

Salix
Family: Salicaceae

The willows all have abundant watery sap,
bark which is heavily charged with salicylic
acid, soft, usually pliant, tough wood,
slender branches and large, fibrous, often
stoloniferous roots. The roots are
remarkable for their toughness, size, and
tenacity of life, and roots readily grow
from aerial parts of the plant.
Salix
Family: Salicaceae

The leaves are typically elongated but may also be round
to oval, frequently with a serrated margin. All the buds
are lateral; no absolutely terminal bud is ever formed.
The buds are covered by a single scale, enclosing at its
base two minute opposite buds, alternately arranged,
with two, small, scale-like, fugacious, opposite leaves.
The leaves are alternate, except the first pair which fall
when about an inch long. They are simple, pinnateveined, and typically linear-lanceolate. Usually they are
serrate, rounded at base, acute or acuminate. The leaf
petioles are short, the stipules often very conspicuous,
looking like tiny round leaves and sometimes remaining
for half the summer. On some species, however, they are
small, inconspicuous, and fugacious (soon falling). In
color the leaves show a great variety of greens, ranging
from yellowish to bluish.
Salix
Family: Salicaceae

Willows are dioecious with male and
female flowers appearing as catkins on
different plants; the catkins are produced
early in the spring, often before the
leaves, or as the new leaves open.
Salix
Family: Salicaceae
Salix
Family: Salicaceae

The staminate (male) flowers are without either
calyx or corolla; they consist simply of stamens,
varying in number from two to ten, accompanied
by a nectariferous gland and inserted on the
base of a scale which is itself borne on the
rachis of a drooping raceme called a catkin, or
ament. This scale is oval and entire and very
hairy. The anthers are rose colored in the bud
but orange or purple after the flower opens,
they are two-celled and the cells open
longitudinally. The filaments are threadlike,
usually pale yellow, and often hairy.
Salix
Family: Salicaceae

The pistillate (female) flowers are also
without calyx or corolla; and consist of a
single ovary accompanied by a small flat
nectar gland and inserted on the base of a
scale which is likewise borne on the rachis
of a catkin. The ovary is one-celled, the
style two-lobed, and the ovules numerous.
Salix
Family: Salicaceae
Salix
Family: Salicaceae

The fruit is a small, one-celled, twovalved, cylindrical beaked capsule
containing numerous tiny (0.1 mm) seeds.
The seeds are furnished with long, silky,
white hairs, which allow the fruit to be
widely dispersed by the wind.
Salix
Family: Salicaceae

Willows are used as
food plants by the
larvae of some
Lepidoptera
(butterfly) species.
Viceroy butterflies feed on
willow species.
Salix
Family: Salicaceae

The leaves and bark of the willow tree
have been mentioned in ancient texts as a
remedy for aches and fever, and the
Ancient Greek physician Hippocrates wrote
about its medicinal properties in the 5th
Century BC. Native Americans across the
American continent relied on it as a staple
of their medical treatments. This is
because they contain salicylic acid, the
precursor to aspirin.
Salix
Family: Salicaceae

In 1897 Felix Hoffmann created a
synthetically altered version of salicin (in
his case derived from the Spiraea plant),
which caused less digestive upset than
pure salicylic acid. The new drug, formally
acetylsalicylic acid was named aspirin by
Hoffmann's employer Bayer AG. This gave
rise to the hugely important class of drugs
known as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory
drugs (NSAIDs).
Salix
Family: Salicaceae
Willow wood is also used in the manufacture of
boxes, brooms, and cricket bats (grown from
certain strains of white willow), cradle boards,
chairs and other furniture, dolls, flutes, poles,
sweat lodges, toys, turnery, tool handles,
veneer, wands and whistles.
 In addition tannin, fiber, paper, rope and string,
can be produced from the wood. Willows are
also popular for wicker (often from osiers),
which is used in basket weaving, fish traps,
wattle fences, and wattle and daub building.

Salix
Family: Salicaceae
Willow bark contains auxins (plant growth
hormones), especially those used for
rooting new cuttings. The bark can even
be used to make a simple extract that will
promote cutting growth.
 Willows produce a modest amount of
nectar that bees can make honey from,
and are especially valued as a source of
pollen for bees.

Salix
Family: Salicaceae

Willow is grown for biomass or biofuel in
energy forestry systems, as a
consequence of its high energy in-energy
out ratio, large carbon mitigation potential
and fast growth. Large scale projects to
support willows development as an energy
crop have been established, such as the
Willow Biomass Project in the United
States of America.
Salix
Family: Salicaceae

As a plant, willow is used for biofiltration,
constructed wetlands, ecological
wastewater treatment systems, hedges,
land reclamation, landscaping,
phytoremediation, streambank
stabilization (bioengineering), slope
stabilization, soil erosion control,
shelterbelt & windbreaks, soil building, soil
reclamation, treebog compost toilets, and
wildlife habitat.
Treebog Toilets
Treebogs are basically toilets built over compost
heaps which are surrounded by a tight double
row of biomass willow cuttings. The willows are
allowed to grow and can be woven into living
walls.
 The treebog idea has grown out of the fact that
willow can be a very greedy feeder that will
thrive on feces and urine in quite large
quantities which the willow converts into leaves
and wood.

Salix
Family: Salicaceae

A number of willow species were imported
into and widely planted in Australia,
notably as erosion control measures along
watercourses. They are now regarded as
an invasive weed and are being removed
and replaced with native trees.
Salix
Family: Salicaceae
In religion, willow is one of the “Four
Species" used in a ceremony on the
Jewish holiday of Sukkot.
 Willow trees are also quite prevalent in
folklore and myths. In English folklore, a
willow tree is believed to be quite sinister,
capable of uprooting itself and stalking
travelers.

Salix
Family: Salicaceae

In JK Rowling’s Harry Potter and the
Chamber of Secrets, and Harry Potter and
the Prisoner of Azkaban, there is an
ancient tree on the school grounds of
Hogwarts called the "Whomping Willow".
It is provided as a hiding spot of a secret
passageway that Professor Remus Lupin
roamed through every full moon when he
began his transformation into a werewolf.
Populus
Family: Salicaceae

Populus is a genus of between 25–35 species
of deciduous flowering plants in the family
Salicaceae, native to most of the Northern
Hemisphere. English names variously applied to
different species include poplar, aspen, and
cottonwood.
 The genus has a large genetic diversity, and can
grow from anywhere between 15–50 m tall, with
trunks of up to 2.5 m diameter.
Populus
Family: Salicaceae

The bark on young trees is smooth, white
to greenish or dark grey, often with
conspicuous lenticels; on old trees it
remains smooth in some species, but
becomes rough and deeply fissured in
others. The shoots are stout, with (unlike
in the related willows) the terminal bud
present.
Populus
Family: Salicaceae

The leaves are spirally arranged, and vary
in shape from triangular to circular or
(rarely) lobed, and with a long petiole; in
some species, the petioles are laterally
flattened, so that breezes easily cause the
leaves to wobble back and forth, giving
the whole tree a "twinkling" appearance in
a breeze.
Populus
Family: Salicaceae

Leaf size is very
variable even on a
single tree, typically
with small leaves on
side shoots, and very
large leaves on
strong-growing lead
shoots. The leaves
often turn bright gold
to yellow before they
fall during autumn.
Populus
Family: Salicaceae

The flowers are mostly dioecious (rarely
monoecious) and appear in early spring before
the leaves. They are borne in long, drooping,
sessile or pedunculate catkins produced from
buds formed in the axils of the leaves of the
previous year. The flowers are each seated in a
cup-shaped disk which is borne on the base of a
scale which is itself attached to the rachis of the
catkin. The scales are obovate, lobed and
fringed, membranous, hairy or smooth, usually
caducous (disappearing in the normal course of
development).
Populus
Family: Salicaceae

The male flowers are without calyx or
corolla, and comprise a group of 4–60
stamens inserted on a disk; filaments
short, pale yellow; anthers oblong, purple
or red, two-celled; cells opening
longitudinally.
Populus
Family: Salicaceae
Male flowers
on Populus
Populus
Family: Salicaceae
Populus
Family: Salicaceae

The female flower also has no calyx or
corolla, and comprises a single-celled
ovary seated in a cup-shaped disk. The
style is short, with 2–4 stigmas, variously
lobed, and numerous ovules.
Populus
Family: Salicaceae
Populus
Family: Salicaceae

Pollination is by wind, with the female
catkins lengthening considerably between
pollination and maturity. The fruit is a two
to four-valved capsule, green to reddishbrown, mature in mid summer, containing
numerous minute light brown seeds
surrounded by tufts of long, soft, white
hairs which aid wind dispersal.
Populus
Family: Salicaceae
Female catkins prior to release
of ‘cotton’
Populus
Family: Salicaceae
Populus
Family: Salicaceae
Poplars are often wetlands or riparian
trees. The aspens are among the most
important boreal broadleaf trees.
 Poplars and aspens are important food
plants for the larvae of a large number of
Lepidoptera (butterfly) species

Populus
Family: Salicaceae





In many areas fast-growing hybrid poplars are grown on
plantations for pulpwood.
Poplar is widely used for the manufacture of paper.
It is also sold as inexpensive hardwood timber, used for
pallets and cheap plywood; more specialized uses
include matches and toothpicks.
Poplar wood is also widely used in the snowboard
industry for the snowboard "core", because it has
exceptional flexibility, and is sometimes used in the
bodies of electric guitars and drums.
Due to its high tannic acid content, the bark has been
used for tanning leather.
Populus
Family: Salicaceae

Poplar wood was also picked as the
material for the bones of "Buster", the
crash test dummy used in the TV show
MythBusters, after some experiments
revealed that it fractures under
approximately the same loads as human
bone.
Populus
Family: Salicaceae

There is interest in using poplar as an
energy crop for biomass or biofuel, in
energy forestry systems, particularly in
light of its high energy in-energy out ratio,
large carbon mitigation potential and fast
growth.
Betulaceae

Betulaceae, or the Birch Family,
includes six genera of deciduous trees and
shrubs, including the birches, alders,
hazels, hornbeams and hop-hornbeams,
numbering 157 species. They are mostly
natives of the temperate Northern
Hemisphere, with a few species of Alnus
reaching the Southern Hemisphere in the
Andes in South America.
Betulaceae

In the past, the family was often divided
into two families, Betulaceae [Alnus
(alder), and Betula (Birch)] and
Corylaceae (the rest); however, recent
treatments, including the Angiosperm
Phylogeny Group (APG), have renamed
these two groups as subfamilies within the
Betulaceae- Betuloideae and Coryloideae.
Betulaceae

The Betulaceae are believed to have
originated at the end of the Cretaceous
period (c. 70 million years ago) in central
China. This region at the time would have
had a Mediterranean climate due to the
proximity of the Tethys Sea, which
covered parts of present-day Tibet and
Xinjiang into the early Tertiary period.
Betulaceae

This point of origin is supported by the
fact that all six genera and 52 species are
native to this region, many of those being
endemic. It is believed that all six modern
genera had diverged fully by the
Oligocene, with all genera in the family
(with the exception of Ostryopsis) having
a fossil record stretching back at least 20
million years from the present.
Betulaceae

The wood is generally hard, tough and
heavy, hornbeams particularly so; several
species were of significant importance in
the past where very hard wood capable of
withstanding heavy wear was required,
such as for cartwheels, water wheels, cog
wheels, tool handles, chopping boards and
wooden pegs. In most of these uses wood
has now been replaces by metal or other
man-made materials.
Betulaceae

The European filbert (Corylus avellana)
and the purple giant filbert (Corylus
maxima) are important orchard plants,
grown for their edible nuts. American
filbert (Corylus americana) is native from
New England to Saskatchewan.
Betulaceae
Corylus avellana
Betulaceae

Species occur in early successional
habitats or in wetlands, or as dominant
forest trees. Nitrogen fixation occurs in
specialized nodules (containing symbiotic
bacteria) on the roots of alder (Alnus)
Betulaceae
In Montana, three genera exist natively:
 Alnus (alder)
 Betula (birch)
 Corylus (hazelnut)

Alnus incana
Family: Betulaceae
Alnus incana
Family: Betulaceae
Alnus viridis
Family: Betulaceae
Alnus viridis
Family: Betulaceae
Alnus viridis
Family: Betulaceae
Betula occidentalis
Family: Betulaceae
Water birch
Betula glandulosa
Family: Betulaceae
Betula papyrifera
Family: Betulaceae
Corylus cornuta
Family: Betulaceae
Hazelnut – expected to be in
Nw and Se Montana
???
Enchinocystis lobata

Family Cucurbitaceae: Wild Cucumber had
no reported food use to native tribes, but
was used in various ways as a drug
especially for kidney troubles, obstructed
menses, for pain, chills, and fevers, and as
a general cure all. The seeds were used
for jewelry.