Salix babylonica grown weeping willow cultivar is "Salix × sepulcralis" 'Chrysocoma', with bright yellowish branchlets. Peking willow is a popular ornamental tree in northern China, and is also grown for wood production and shelterbelts there, being particularly important around the oases of the Gobi Desert, protecting agricultural land from desert winds. 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 that this willow was the tree described in the "Bible" in the opening of Psalm 137 (here in Latin and English
Salix matsudana making it very short-lived and unsuitable for most of the purposes for which it is sold. Salix matsudana Salix matsudana, the Chinese willow, is a species of willow native to northeastern China. The species is named in honour of Sadahisa Matsuda, a Japanese botanist. Three varieties are recognized, "Salix matsudana" var. "anshanensis", "S. matsudana" var. "matsudana", and "S. matsudana" var. "pseudomatsudana". The species is widely cultivated in China, and a horticultural variant with twisted twigs and trunk, the corkscrew willow ("S. matsudana" var. "tortuosa"), is widely planted. "Salix matsudana" is a medium-sized to large, deciduous, upright, rapidly growing tree to