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{{Taxobox
| color = lightgreen
| name = Weeping willow
| status = Threatened
| image = SalixBabylonica.jpg
| image_width = 240px
| image_caption = Peking Willows planted at [[Shijiazhuang]], south of [[Beijing]], China
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Dicotyledon|Magnoliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Malpighiales]]
| familia = [[Salicaceae]]
| genus = ''[[Willow|Salix]]''
| species = '''''S. babylonica'''''
| binomial = ''Salix babylonica''
| binomial_authority = [[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]]
}}
The '''Weeping willow''' (''Salix x pendulina and Salix x sepulcralis''), also known as the '''Babylon willow''' or '''Peking willow''', 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 [[Babylon]], hence the scientific name.
[[Image:Willow Salix babylonica.jpg|200px|left|thumb|Leaves of Peking Willow]]
It is a medium-sized to large [[deciduous]] tree, growing up to 20-25 m tall. It grows rapidly, but has a short lifespan. It has narrow, light green leaves, around 4-10 cm long and 1-2 cm broad. The [[flower]]s are [[catkin]]s produced early in the spring; it is [[plant sexuality|dioecious]], with the male and female catkins on separate trees.
Many botanists treat the [[Chinese Willow]] ''Salix matsudana'' as a [[Synonymy|synonym]] of ''Salix babylonica''; it is also native to northern China. The only reported difference between the two is that ''S. matsudana'' has two [[nectar]]ies in each female flower, whereas ''S. babylonica'' has only one; however this character is not reliable in many willows (e.g. [[Crack Willow]] can have either one or two), so even this difference may mean nothing.
===Cultivation and uses===
Peking Willow is a popular [[ornamental plant|ornamental tree]] in northern China, and is also grown for [[wood]] production and shelterbelts there, being particularly important around the [[oasis|oases]] of the [[Gobi Desert]] to protect agricultural land from desert winds.
It has also been introduced into many other areas, but has not generally been successful in cultivation outside of China{{Fact|date=April 2007}}, being very short-lived and unsightly due to [[canker]] diseases in the more humid [[climate]]s in much of [[Europe]] and [[North America]]It is particularly susceptible to Willow Anthracnose ''Marssonina salicicola''.
Early Chinese [[cultivar]] selections include the original '''Weeping Willow''' ''Salix babylonica'' 'Pendula', in which the branches and twigs are strongly pendulous. However, most Weeping Willows outside of China are a [[hybrid]] between this cultivar and the [[White Willow]], which is better adapted to humid leaves.
===Leaves===
Peking Willow [[leaf|leaves]] are long and pointed. They have slight notches in the sides. The leaves turn a gold-yellow in [[autumn]] and are alternate on the branches.
===Reproductive Cycle===
The Peking or Weeping Willow, unlike other species of willow has an odd reproductive cycle. Though the willow's reproductive cycle will continue as long as the tree lives, any seeds produced after the tree reaches a certain age (usually between 38-47 years old) are infertile and cannot produce [[seedlings]].
This has caused many [[environmentalist]] to closely watch the weeping willow. Because even though they flourish in many areas, if new willows are not grown on a regular basis this amazing tree has a very real possibility of going [[extinct]].
==External links==
*[http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/species/frame/saba2.htm ''Salix babylonica'' (weeping willow) images at bioimages.vanderbilt.edu]
[[Category:Salicaceae|Willow, Peking]]
The Salix babylonica derives its name from Psalm 137 ("By the rivers of Babylon"), which laments the exile of the Israelites from their land, Israel, into a strange and unfriendly Babylonia. According to the Psalm, they weep beneath the willow trees on the riverbanks of Babylonia, and thus, the weeping willow is named for one of the more famous places where people lamented beside it.
| color = lightgreen
| name = Weeping willow
| status = Threatened
| image = SalixBabylonica.jpg
| image_width = 240px
| image_caption = Peking Willows planted at [[Shijiazhuang]], south of [[Beijing]], China
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Dicotyledon|Magnoliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Malpighiales]]
| familia = [[Salicaceae]]
| genus = ''[[Willow|Salix]]''
| species = '''''S. babylonica'''''
| binomial = ''Salix babylonica''
| binomial_authority = [[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]]
}}
The '''Weeping willow''' (''Salix x pendulina and Salix x sepulcralis''), also known as the '''Babylon willow''' or '''Peking willow''', 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 [[Babylon]], hence the scientific name.
[[Image:Willow Salix babylonica.jpg|200px|left|thumb|Leaves of Peking Willow]]
It is a medium-sized to large [[deciduous]] tree, growing up to 20-25 m tall. It grows rapidly, but has a short lifespan. It has narrow, light green leaves, around 4-10 cm long and 1-2 cm broad. The [[flower]]s are [[catkin]]s produced early in the spring; it is [[plant sexuality|dioecious]], with the male and female catkins on separate trees.
Many botanists treat the [[Chinese Willow]] ''Salix matsudana'' as a [[Synonymy|synonym]] of ''Salix babylonica''; it is also native to northern China. The only reported difference between the two is that ''S. matsudana'' has two [[nectar]]ies in each female flower, whereas ''S. babylonica'' has only one; however this character is not reliable in many willows (e.g. [[Crack Willow]] can have either one or two), so even this difference may mean nothing.
===Cultivation and uses===
Peking Willow is a popular [[ornamental plant|ornamental tree]] in northern China, and is also grown for [[wood]] production and shelterbelts there, being particularly important around the [[oasis|oases]] of the [[Gobi Desert]] to protect agricultural land from desert winds.
It has also been introduced into many other areas, but has not generally been successful in cultivation outside of China{{Fact|date=April 2007}}, being very short-lived and unsightly due to [[canker]] diseases in the more humid [[climate]]s in much of [[Europe]] and [[North America]]It is particularly susceptible to Willow Anthracnose ''Marssonina salicicola''.
Early Chinese [[cultivar]] selections include the original '''Weeping Willow''' ''Salix babylonica'' 'Pendula', in which the branches and twigs are strongly pendulous. However, most Weeping Willows outside of China are a [[hybrid]] between this cultivar and the [[White Willow]], which is better adapted to humid leaves.
===Leaves===
Peking Willow [[leaf|leaves]] are long and pointed. They have slight notches in the sides. The leaves turn a gold-yellow in [[autumn]] and are alternate on the branches.
===Reproductive Cycle===
The Peking or Weeping Willow, unlike other species of willow has an odd reproductive cycle. Though the willow's reproductive cycle will continue as long as the tree lives, any seeds produced after the tree reaches a certain age (usually between 38-47 years old) are infertile and cannot produce [[seedlings]].
This has caused many [[environmentalist]] to closely watch the weeping willow. Because even though they flourish in many areas, if new willows are not grown on a regular basis this amazing tree has a very real possibility of going [[extinct]].
==External links==
*[http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/species/frame/saba2.htm ''Salix babylonica'' (weeping willow) images at bioimages.vanderbilt.edu]
[[Category:Salicaceae|Willow, Peking]]
The Salix babylonica derives its name from Psalm 137 ("By the rivers of Babylon"), which laments the exile of the Israelites from their land, Israel, into a strange and unfriendly Babylonia. According to the Psalm, they weep beneath the willow trees on the riverbanks of Babylonia, and thus, the weeping willow is named for one of the more famous places where people lamented beside it.