''Salix babylonica'' (Babylon willow or weeping willow; ) is a species of

willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist s ...

native to dry areas of northern China, but cultivated for millennia elsewhere in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

, being traded along the

Silk Road The Silk Road () was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles), it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and reli ...

to southwest Asia and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

.Flora of China
''Salix babylonica''
/ref>

Description

''Salix babylonica'' is a medium- to large-sized

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

tree, growing up to tall. It grows rapidly, but has a short lifespan, between 40 and 75 years. The shoots are yellowish-brown, with small buds. The

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

are alternate and spirally arranged, narrow, light green, long and broad, with finely serrate margins and long

acuminate The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regular o ...

tips; they turn a gold-yellow in autumn. The

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s are arranged in

catkin A catkin or ament is a slim, cylindrical flower cluster (a spike), with inconspicuous or no petals, usually wind-pollinated (anemophilous) but sometimes insect-pollinated (as in ''Salix''). They contain many, usually unisexual flowers, arranged cl ...

s produced early in the spring; it is

dioecious Dioecy (; ; adj. dioecious , ) is a characteristic of a species, meaning that it has distinct individual organisms (unisexual) that produce male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproductio ...

, with the male and female catkins on separate trees.Huxley, A., ed. (1992). ''New RHS Dictionary of Gardening''. Macmillan . File:Saule pleureur chaton.jpg, Male flowers of ''Salix babylonica'' Image:Willow Salix babylonica.jpg, Pendulous

branchlet {{Short pages monitor

Early Chinese

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture, ...

selections include the original weeping willow, ''Salix babylonica'' 'Pendula', in which the branches and twigs are strongly pendulous, which was presumably spread along ancient

trade route A trade route is a logistical network identified as a series of pathways and stoppages used for the commercial transport of cargo. The term can also be used to refer to trade over bodies of water. Allowing goods to reach distant markets, a sing ...

s. These distinctive trees were subsequently introduced into

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

from

Aleppo )), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black". , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , image_map1 = ...

in northern

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

in 1730, and have rapidly become

naturalised Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the i ...

, growing well along rivers and in parks. These plants are all females, readily propagated

vegetatively Vegetative reproduction (also known as vegetative propagation, vegetative multiplication or cloning) is any form of asexual reproduction occurring in plants in which a new plant grows from a fragment or cutting of the parent plant or spec ...

, and capable of hybridizing with various other kinds of willows, but not breeding true from seed. This type of tree is grown very easily through

plant propagation Plant propagation is the process by which new plants grow from a variety of sources: seeds, cuttings, and other plant parts. Plant propagation can also refer to the man-made or natural dispersal of seeds. Propagation typically occurs as a step i ...

. Two cultivated hybrids between pendulous ''Salix babylonica'' and other species of ''Salix'' willows also have pendulous branchlets, and are more commonly planted than ''S. babylonica'' itself: * ''Salix'' × ''pendulina'', a hybrid with ''S. babylonica'' accepted as the female parent, but with the male parent unidentified, probably being either ''S. euxina'' or ''S''. × ''fragilis'', but perhaps '' S. pentandra''. Of these possibilities, ''S''. × ''fragilis'' is itself a hybrid, with ''S. alba'' and ''S. euxina'' as parental species. * ''Salix'' × ''sepulcralis'', is a hybrid between '' S. alba'' and ''S. babylonica''. Cultivars derived from either of these hybrids are generally better adapted than ''S. babylonica'' to the more humid climates of most heavily populated regions of Europe and North America.

Relation to ''Salix matsudana''

A similar willow species also native to northern China, ''Salix matsudana'' (Chinese willow), is now included in ''Salix babylonica'' as a

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

by many botanists, including the Russian willow expert

Alexey Skvortsov Alexey Konstantinovich Skvortsov (Ru:Алексе́й Константи́нович Скворцо́в) (9 February 1920 – 8 May 2008) was a Soviet botanist and biologist, a specialist on amentiferous plants—willows (Salix), poplars (Populus ...

. The only reported difference between the two species is ''S. matsudana'' has two

nectar Nectar is a sugar-rich liquid produced by plants in glands called nectaries or nectarines, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to animal mutualists ...

ies in each female flower, whereas ''S. babylonica'' has only one; however, this character is variable in many willows (for example, crack willow, ''Salix'' × ''fragilis'', can have either one or two), so even this difference may not be taxonomically significant.Bean, W. J. (1980). ''Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles'' 8th ed., vol. 6. John Murray . A horticultural variant with twisted twigs and trunk, the corkscrew willow (''S. matsudana'' var. ''tortuosa''), is widely planted.

Cultivation

''Salix babylonica'', especially its pendulous-branched ("weeping") form, has been introduced into many other areas, including

and the southeastern

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, but beyond China, it has not generally been as successfully cultivated as some of its hybrid derivatives, being sensitive to late-spring frosts. In the more humid

climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in an area, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorologic ...

s of much of

and eastern

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

, it is susceptible to a

canker A plant canker is a small area of dead tissue, which grows slowly, often over years. Some cankers are of only minor consequence, but others are ultimately lethal and therefore can have major economic implications for agriculture and horticultur ...

disease, willow anthracnose (''

Marssonina salicicola ''Drepanopeziza sphaerioides'' is a species of fungi A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These ...

''), which makes infected trees very short-lived and unsightly.Meikle, R. D. (1984). ''Willows and Poplars of Great Britain and Ireland''. BSBI Handbook No. 4. .

Cultivars

''Salix babylonica'' (Babylon willow) has many cultivars, including: * 'Babylon' (synonym: 'Napoleon') is the most widely grown cultivar of ''S. babylonica'', with its typical weeping branches.Santamour, F.S. & McArdle, A.J. (1988). Cultivars of Salix babylonica and other Weeping Willows. Journal of Arboriculture 14: 180-184 * 'Crispa' (synonym: 'Annularis') is a mutant of 'Babylon', with spirally curled leaves. Various cultivars of ''Salix matsudana'' (Chinese willow) are now often included within ''Salix babylonica'', treated more broadly, including: * 'Pendula' is one of the best weeping trees, with a silvery shine, hardier, and more disease resistant. * 'Tortuosa' is an upright tree with twisted and contorted branches, marketed as corkscrew willow. Yet other weeping willow cultivars are derived from interspecific ''Salix'' hybrids, including ''S. babylonica'' in their parentage. The most widely grown weeping willow cultivar is ''Salix × sepulcralis'' 'Chrysocoma', with bright yellowish branchlets.

Uses

Peking willow is a popular

ornamental tree Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that i ...

in northern China, and is also grown for

wood Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin th ...

production and

shelterbelts A windbreak (shelterbelt) is a planting usually made up of one or more rows of trees or shrubs planted in such a manner as to provide shelter from the wind and to protect soil from erosion. They are commonly planted in hedgerows around the edges ...

there, being particularly important around the

oases In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.” The location of oases has been of critical imp ...

of the

Gobi Desert The Gobi Desert (Chinese: 戈壁 (沙漠), Mongolian: Говь (ᠭᠣᠪᠢ)) () is a large desert or brushland region in East Asia, and is the sixth largest desert in the world. Geography The Gobi measures from southwest to northeast an ...

, protecting agricultural land from desert winds.

Origin

The epithet ''babylonica'' in this Chinese species' scientific name (''S. babylonica''), as well as the related common names "Babylon willow" or "Babylon weeping willow", derive from a misunderstanding by

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

that this willow was the tree described in the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

in the opening of

Psalm 137 Psalm 137 is the 137th psalm of the Book of Psalms in the Tanakh. In English it is generally known as "By the rivers of Babylon", which is how its first words are translated in the King James Version of the Bible. Its Latin title is "Super flum ...

(here in Latin and English translations): * From the

Clementine Vulgate The Sixto-Clementine Vulgate or Clementine Vulgate () is the edition wikt:promulgate, promulgated in 1592 by Pope Clement VIII of the Vulgate—a 4th-century Latin translation of the Bible that was written largely by Jerome. It was the second ...

(Latin, 1592): ::

Super flumina Babylonis illic sedimus et flevimus, cum recordaremur Sion. :::In salicibus in medio ejus suspendimus organa nostra....

:Here, ''"salicibus"'' is the dative plural of the Latin noun ''salix'', the willows, used by Linnaeus as the name for the willow genus ''Salix''.
* From the

King James Version The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an Bible translations into English, English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and publis ...

(English, 1611): ::

By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. :::We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.

* From the

Revised Standard Version The Revised Standard Version (RSV) is an English translation of the Bible published in 1952 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. This translation itself is a revision of the Ameri ...

(English, 1952): ::

By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion :::On the willows there we hung up our lyres....

Despite these Biblical references to "willows", whether in Latin or English, the trees growing in

Babylon ''Bābili(m)'' * sux, 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠 * arc, 𐡁𐡁𐡋 ''Bāḇel'' * syc, ܒܒܠ ''Bāḇel'' * grc-gre, Βαβυλών ''Babylṓn'' * he, בָּבֶל ''Bāvel'' * peo, 𐎲𐎠𐎲𐎡𐎽𐎢 ''Bābiru'' * elx, 𒀸𒁀𒉿𒇷 ''Babi ...

along the

Euphrates River The Euphrates () is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia ( ''the land between the rivers'') ...

in ancient

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...

(modern

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

) and named ''gharab'' in early

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

, are not willows (''

Salix Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist so ...

'') in either the modern or the classical sense, but the Euphrates poplar (''

Populus euphratica ''Populus euphratica'', commonly known as the Euphrates poplar, desert poplar, diversiform-leaved poplar, or poplar diversifolia, is a species of poplar tree in the willow family. Description The Euphrates poplar is a medium-sized deciduous ...

''), with willow-like leaves on long, drooping shoots, in the related

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

Populus ''Populus'' is a genus of 25–30 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 we ...

''. Both ''Populus'' and ''Salix'' are in the plant family

Salicaceae The Salicaceae is the willow family of flowering plants. The traditional family (Salicaceae ''sensu stricto'') included the willows, poplar, aspen, and cottonwoods. Genetic studies summarized by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG) have greatly ...

, the willow family. These Babylonian trees are correctly called poplars, not willows, in the

New International Version The New International Version (NIV) is an English translation of the Bible first published in 1978 by Biblica (formerly the International Bible Society). The ''NIV'' was created as a modern translation, by Bible scholars using the earliest an ...

of the ''Bible'' (English, 1978): ::

By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion :::There on the poplars we hung our harps.

Explanatory notes

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q156307 babylonica Flora of China Garden plants of Asia Ornamental trees Phytoremediation plants Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Trees of China Weeping trees