Changes

|genus=Salix

|genus=Salix

|species=babylonica

|species=babylonica

|common_name=Peking willow, Weeping willow

|common_name=Peking willow, Weeping willow

|name_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia

|name_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia

|Max wd metric=ft

|Max wd metric=ft

|width_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia

|width_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia

|lifespan=perennial

|lifespan=perennial

|life_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia

|life_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia

|exposure=sun

|exposure=sun

|sun_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia

|sun_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia

|Temp Metric=°F

|Temp Metric=°F

|min_zone=5

|min_zone=5

|usda_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia

|usda_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia

|max_zone=10

|max_zone=10

|image=Upload.png

|image=SalixBabylonica.jpg

|image_width=240

|image_width=240

}}

}}

'''''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>

| name = ''Salix babylonica''

 

| common_names = Peking Willow

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&nbsp;cm long and 0.5-2&nbsp;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>

| growth_habit = ?  <!--- tree, shrub, herbaceous, vine, etc -->

 

| high = ?  <!--- 1m (3 ft) -->

| wide =     <!--- 65cm (25 inches) -->

| origin = China{{SCH}}

| poisonous =     <!--- indicate parts of plants which are known/thought to be poisonous -->

| features =    <!--- flowers, fragrance, fruit, naturalizes, invasive -->

| hardiness =     <!--- frost sensitive, hardy, 5°C (40°F), etc -->

| bloom =    <!--- seasons which the plant blooms, if it is grown for its flowers -->

| usda_zones = ?   <!--- eg. 8-11 -->

| sunset_zones =    <!--- eg. 8, 9, 12-24, not available -->

| image = SalixBabylonica.jpg

| image_width = 240px    <!--- leave as 240px if horizontal orientation photo, or change to 180px if vertical -->

| image_caption = Peking Willows planted at [[Shijiazhuang]], south of [[Beijing]], China

| regnum = Plantae

| cultivar =  

{{Inc|

{{Inc|

'''''[[Salix]] babylonica'''.'' (syn. S. pendula). Napoleon's Willow. A tree of weeping habit, 30-40 ft. high, with long slender olive-green or purplish branches: buds small, acute: lvs. 2-6 in. long, attenuate at base and apex: aments appearing with the lvs., slender, the pistillate green, 1 in. long, caps. small. China.—Long known in cult. and often grown in cemeteries. Tender N. Var. annularis, Forbes, lvs. twisted back so as to form a sort of ring.

'''''[[Salix]] babylonica'''.'' (syn. S. pendula). Napoleon's Willow. A tree of weeping habit, 30-40 ft. high, with long slender olive-green or purplish branches: buds small, acute: lvs. 2-6 in. long, attenuate at base and apex: aments appearing with the lvs., slender, the pistillate green, 1 in. long, caps. small. China.—Long known in cult. and often grown in cemeteries. Tender N. Var. annularis, Forbes, lvs. twisted back so as to form a sort of ring.

==Cultivation==

==Cultivation==

 

===Propagation===

===Propagation===

 

===Pests and diseases===

===Pests and diseases===

{{edit-pests}}<!--- Type pest/disease info below this line, then delete this entire line -->

It has also been introduced into many other areas, but has not generally been successfully cultivated outside China, 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 [[canker]] disease, Willow Anthracnose (''Marssonina salicicola'') and sensitive to late-spring frosts.<ref name=bean4/><ref name=rdm>Meikle, R. D. (1984). ''Willows and Poplars of Great Britain and Ireland''. BSBI Handbook No. 4. ISBN 0-901158-07-0.</ref>

 

* 'Babylon' (synonym: 'Napoleon') The most widely grown cultivar with its typical weeping branches<ref>Santamour, F.S. & McArdle, A.J. (1988). Cultivars of Salix babylonica and other Weeping

Willows. Journal of Arboriculture 14: 180-184</ref>

 

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 China are [[Hybrid (biology)|hybrids]] between this cultivar, and either White Willow ''[[Salix alba]]'' ([[Salix Sepulcralis Group]]) or Crack Willow ''[[Salix fragilis]]'' (''Salix × pendulina'' Wenderoth), which are better adapted to the more humid climates of most heavily populated regions of Europe and North America. The most widely grown Weeping Willow cultivar is [[Salix Sepulcralis Group 'Chrysocoma']], with bright yellowish shoots.<ref name=bean4/><ref name=rdm/>

<!--  This section should be renamed Cultivars if it appears on a page for a species (rather than genus), or perhaps Varieties if there is a mix of cultivars, species, hybrids, etc    -->

==Gallery==

==Gallery==

<gallery>

<gallery perrow=5>

Image:Upload.png| photo 1

Image:Upload.png| photo 2

Image:Willow Salix babylonica.jpg|Leaves

Image:Upload.png| photo 3

File:Salix babylonica2.jpg|Bark

File:SalixBabylonicaLeaf.jpg|Leaf

</gallery>

</gallery>

==References==

==References==

*[[Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture]], by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963

*[[Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture]], by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963

<!--- xxxxx  *Flora: The Gardener's Bible, by Sean Hogan. Global Book Publishing, 2003. ISBN 0881925381  -->

<!--- xxxxx  *Flora: The Gardener's Bible, by Sean Hogan. Global Book Publishing, 2003. ISBN 0881925381  -->

*{{wplink}}

*{{wplink}}