| '''''Salix babylonica''''' ('''Babylon Willow''' (var. ''babylonica'') or '''Peking Willow''' (var. ''matsudana''); is a species of [[willow]] native to dry areas of northern [[China]], but cultivated for millennia elsewhere in [[Asia]], being traded along the [[silk road]] to southwest Asia and [[Europe]].<ref name=foc>Flora of China: [http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200005760 ''Salix babylonica'']</ref><ref name=grin>Germplasm Resources Information Network: [http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?32683 ''Salix babylonica'']</ref> | | '''''Salix babylonica''''' ('''Babylon Willow''' (var. ''babylonica'') or '''Peking Willow''' (var. ''matsudana''); is a species of [[willow]] native to dry areas of northern [[China]], but cultivated for millennia elsewhere in [[Asia]], being traded along the [[silk road]] to southwest Asia and [[Europe]].<ref name=foc>Flora of China: [http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200005760 ''Salix babylonica'']</ref><ref name=grin>Germplasm Resources Information Network: [http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?32683 ''Salix babylonica'']</ref> |
− | It is a large-sized to medium [[deciduous]] tree, growing up to 20-25 m tall. It grows rapidly, but has a short lifespan. The shoots are yellowish-brown, with small buds. The [[leaf|leaves]] are spirally arranged, narrow, light green, 4-16 cm long and 0.5-2 cm broad, with finely serrate margins and long [[leaf shape|acuminate]] tips ; they turn a gold-yellow in autumn. The [[flower]]s are arranged in [[catkin]]s produced early in the spring; it is [[plant sexuality|dioecious]], with the male and female catkins on separate trees.<ref name=foc/><ref name=rhs>Huxley, A., ed. (1992). ''New RHS Dictionary of Gardening''. Macmillan ISBN 0-333-47494-5.</ref> | + | It is a large-sized to medium [[deciduous]] tree, growing up to 20-25 m tall. It grows rapidly, but has a short lifespan. The shoots are yellowish-brown, with small buds. The [[leaf|leaves]] are spirally arranged, narrow, light green, 4-16 cm long and 0.5-2 cm broad, with finely serrate margins and long [[leaf shape|acuminate]] tips ; they turn a gold-yellow in autumn. The [[flower]]s are arranged in [[catkin]]s produced early in the spring; it is [[plant sexuality|dioecious]], with the male and female catkins on separate trees.<ref name=foc/><ref name=rhs>Huxley, A., ed. (1992). ''New RHS Dictionary of Gardening''. Macmillan ISBN 0-333-47494-5.</ref> |