Editing Willow (section)

===Flowers===
[[File:Young-catkin.jpg|thumb|Young male [[catkin]]]]
With the exception of ''[[Salix martiana]]'',<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1007/BF00986668|title=''Salix martiana'', a regularly hermaphrodite willow|year=1984|last1=Rohwer|first1=Jens|last2=Kubitzki|first2=Klaus|journal=[[Plant Systematics and Evolution]]|volume=144|issue=2|pages=99–101|bibcode=1984PSyEv.144...99R |s2cid=35590381}}</ref> willows are [[dioecious]], with male and female [[flower]]s appearing as [[catkin]]s on separate plants; the catkins are produced early in the spring, often before the leaves.

The [[staminate]] (male) flowers have neither [[Calyx (botany)|calyx]] nor [[Corolla (flower)|corolla]]; they consist simply of stamens, varying in number from two to 10, 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 square, 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 latitudinally. The filaments are threadlike, usually pale brown, and often bald.

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.